21st century ...

2020-2029 timeline contents

2020-2035 - World energy crisis

2020 - Generation X is reshaping global politics | Internet use reaches 5 billion worldwide | The 5G standard is released | Texting by thinking | Complex organ replacements grown from stem cells | Ultra High Definition Television (4320p) is available in domestic homes | Holographic TV is available | Sweden becomes the first oil-free country | Hong Kong's Mass Transit Railway (MTR) has been significantly expanded | Completion of the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link | Public smoking is banned across every US state | Glacier National Park and other regions are becoming ice-free | BepiColombo arrives in orbit around Mercury | Video games with truly lifelike CGI | Smart meters in every UK home

2021 - Global average temperatures have risen by 1°C| Water crisis in southwest USA | The world's largest insect swarm re-emerges | Mind reading technology is being deployed for security purposes | Fully reusable, single-stage-to-orbit spacecraft | Telecommuting is a standard flexible work option | Traditional microchips are reaching the limits of miniaturisation

2022 - Germany phases out nuclear energy | Qatar hosts the FIFA World Cup | The European Extremely Large Telescope is operational | Nanotech clothing is growing in popularity | Piezoelectric nanowires are appearing in high-end products | Deafness is fully curable

2023 - Mars sample return mission | Laser-driven fusion energy makes progress | Turkey celebrates its 100th anniversary as an independent republic | A permanent cure for migraine is becoming available | Borneo’s rainforests have been wiped from the map | Gorillas are extinct in Central Africa

2024 - The biggest refugee crisis in world history | Gay marriage is legal in every US state | African elephants are going extinct in the wild | A cure for the common cold is available for general public use | Completion of the Square Kilometre Array | Petabyte storage devices are available | The first probe to fly into the Sun's outer atmosphere

2025-2030 - The threat of bioterrorism is peaking | Some of Britain's most well-known animal species are going extinct

2025 - Human brain simulations are becoming possible | Medical nanobots are being developed | China's economy continues to boom | Vertical farms are appearing in cities | High speed rail networks are being expanded in many countries | Africa and the Middle East are linked by a trans-continental bridge| Progress with longevity extension | Stress and anxiety are reaching crisis levels

2026 - Aquaculture provides the majority of the world's seafood | New treatments for Alzheimer’s disease | The cost per watt of solar PV has fallen below $1 | Wireless electricity is ubiquitous | Rising sea levels are wreaking havoc on the Maldives | Construction of the Sagrada Família is complete | Contact with the Voyager probes is lost

2026-2029 - Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM)

2027 - The BRICs overtake the G7 nations| Tokyo and Nagoya are connected by high-speed maglev | Carbon sequestration is underway in many nations | Peak coal is reached in China

2028 - The International Space Station is decommissioned | Printed electronics are ubiquitous |
UK population reaches 70m | Manned fighter planes are being phased out and replaced with UAVs | Amputees can regrow lost limbs

2029 - Human-like AI is becoming a reality | Heavy automation of supermarkets and retail environments | Intelligent advertising | Lake Chad disappears from the map | Madagascar's radiated tortoise is extinct in the wild | The wreck of the Titanic has decomposed

 

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