In 2022, 45% of the world's population lived in "some form of democracy", although only 8% lived in "full democracies".[9] TheUnited Nations estimates that by 2050, two-thirds of the world's population will beurbanized.[10]
Theworld economy expanded at high rates from $42 trillion in 2000 to $101 trillion in 2022, and though many economies rose at greater levels, some gradually contracted.[a] Effects ofglobal warming andrising sea levels exacerbated theecological crises, with eight islands disappearing between 2007 and 2014.[11][12][13]
In late 2019, theCOVID-19 pandemic began to rapidly spread worldwide, causing more than seven million reported deaths,[14] and around 18.2 to 33.5 million estimated deaths,[15] while at the same time, causingsevere global economic disruption, including thelargest global recession since theGreat Depression in the 1930s.[16] The pandemic defined 2020 and 2021, and remained a global health crisis until May 2023.
There is a lack of general agreement over how to pronounce specific years of the 21st century in English. Academics have pointed out that the early years of previous centuries were commonly pronounced as, for example, "eighteen oh five" (for 1805) and "nineteen oh five" (for 1905).[24] Generally, theearly years of the 21st century were pronounced as in "two-thousand (and) five", with a change taking place around 2010, when pronunciations often shifted between the early-years form of "two-thousand (and) ten" and the traditionally more concise form of "twenty-ten".
Technologies such asultrasound, prenatalgenetic testing, andgenetic engineering have advanced significantly. Due tosex-selective abortion, fewer girls have been born in the 21st century (and since the early 1980s) compared to past centuries, mostly because ofson preference in East and South Asia. In 2014, only 47% of Indian births were of girls.[25] This has led to an increase inbachelors in countries such as China and India. The first genetically modified children were born November 2018 inChina to significantcontroversy, beginning a new biological era for the human species.[26]
Anxiety[27] anddepression[28] rates have risen in theUnited States and many other parts of the world. However,suicide rates have fallen in Europe and most of the rest of the world so far this century, declining 29% globally between 2000 and 2018, despite rising 18% in the United States in the same period. The decline in suicide has been most notable among Chinese and Indian women, the elderly, and middle-aged Russian men.[29][30]
Telecommunications in the early 21st century are much more advanced and universal than they were in the late 20th century. Only a small percentage of the world's population were Internet users andcellular phone owners in the late 1990s; while as of 2023, 67% of the world's population is online,[17] and 78% of all people aged 10 and above own a mobile phone.[35] In the 2010s,artificial intelligence, mainly in the form ofdeep learning andmachine learning, became more prevalent and in the early 2020s, with the rise ofgenerative AI, the AI boom began. As of 2022, 8.6% of the world's population still lacked access to electricity.[36]
War and violence have declined considerably compared to the 20th century, continuing the post-World War II trend calledLong Peace. However, since the beginning of the 2020s, geopolitical tensions and wars have been rising across the world, as seen with theRussian invasion of Ukraine andGaza war, theTigray war, theSudanese civil war, and the deterioration ofChina–United States relations.[5][6][39] As of 2023, 14% of people in the world live within five kilometers of violent conflict; the highest number of ongoing conflicts across various since World War II.[40][41]
Poverty is still widespread globally, but fewer people live in the most extreme forms of poverty. In 1990, 37.9% of the world's population lived inextreme poverty; by 2022, this had dropped to just 9%.[42]
Projected world population by 2100 based on the UN's medium population scenario.
Theworld population was about 6.1 billion at the start of the 21st century and reached 8 billion by November 2022. It isestimated to reach nearly 8.6 billion by 2030,[43] and 9.8 billion by 2050. According to theUnited Nations World Urbanization prospects, 60% of the world's human population is projected to live inmegacities andmegalopolis/megalopolises by 2030, 70% by 2050, and 90% by 2080.[44]
Life expectancy has increased aschild mortality continues to decline. A baby born in 2019, for example, will, on average (globally), live to 73 years — 27 years longer than the global average of someone born in 1950.[45] 10 millionBritons (16% of theUnited Kingdom population) will, on average, live to 100 or older.[46]
Climate change remains a serious concern; United Nations Secretary-GeneralAntónio Guterres, for instance, has described it as an "existential threat" to humanity.[47] Furthermore, theHolocene extinction event, the sixth-most significant extinction event in the Earth's history, continues with the widespread degradation of highlybiodiverse habitats as a by-product of human activity.[48]
Bitcoin and othercryptocurrencies are decentralized currencies that are not controlled by any central bank. These currencies are increasing in popularity worldwide due to the expanding availability of theinternet and are mainly used as astore of value.
There is an ongoing impact oftechnological unemployment due toautomation andcomputerization: the rate at which jobs are disappearing—due to machines replacing them—is expected to escalate.[50] Automation alters the number of jobs and the skills demands of industries. As of 2019, the production output offirst world nations' manufacturing sectors was doubled when compared to 1984 output; but it is now produced with one-third fewer workers and at significantly reducedoperating costs.[51] Half of all jobs with requirements lower than a bachelor's degree are currently in the process of being replaced with partial- or full-automation.[52]
TheWorld Economic Forum forecasted in 2018 that 65% of children enteringprimary school will end up in jobs or careers that currently do not yet exist.[53]
A rise in the retirement age has been called for in view of an increase inlife expectancy and has been put in place in many jurisdictions.[54][55]
As of 2009,Ethnologue catalogued 6,909 living human languages.[56] The exact number of known living languages will vary from 5,000 to 10,000, generally depending on the precision of one's definition of "language", and in particular, on how one classifiesdialects.
Estimates vary depending on many factors, but the general consensus is that there are between 6,000 and 7,000 languages currently spoken. Between 50% and 90% of those will have becomeextinct by the year 2100.[57]
Thetop 20 languages spoken by more than 50 million speakers each, are spoken by 50% of the world's population. In contrast, many of the other languages are spoken by small communities, most of them with fewer than 10,000 speakers.[57]
1998–2003 – TheSecond Congo War continued into the early 21st century. A 1999 ceasefire quickly broke down and a UN peacekeeping mission,MONUC, was unable to control the fighting. Troops fromRwanda andUganda continued to support rebel groups against theDemocratic Republic of the Congo and rifts also grew between Rwanda and Uganda as they accused each other of supporting rival rebel groups as well.Laurent Kabila, president of the DRC, was assassinated in January 2001 and his son,Joseph Kabila, took power. Throughout 2002 steps were made towards peace and Rwanda and Uganda both removed their troops from the country. OnDecember 17, 2002, a massive treaty officially ended the war. However, the DRC only holds power in less than half of the country, with most of the eastern and northern portions still controlled by rebel groups, where there is still significant infighting. In addition, Rwanda still supports anti-DRC rebels and anti-Rwandan rebels continue to operate from the DRC. The war killed an estimated 3.9 million people, displaced nearly 5.5 million, and led to a widespread and ongoing famine that continues to result in deaths. Severe human rights violations continue to be reported.[58]
2000–2005 – TheSecond Intifada, a major Palestinian uprising againstIsrael, is estimated to have led to the deaths of approximately 3,000 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis.[citation needed]
2001–2014 – TheNorthern Alliance andNATO-ledISAFinvadesAfghanistan onOctober 7, 2001, and overthrows the Al-Qaeda-supportiveTaliban government. Troops remained to install a democratic government, fight a slowly escalating insurgency, and to hunt for Al-Qaeda leaderOsama bin Laden who would bekilled byAmerican troops nearly 10 years later, onMay 2, 2011. OnDecember 24, 2014, NATO forces officially ended combat operations in Afghanistan, but forces remained untilAugust 30, 2021, followed by a quick withdrawal of all troops.
TheEuro is the official currency introduced in theEurozone countries.[60] The former currencies of all the countries that use the Euro ceased to be legal tender on February 28.[61]
The government of Sri Lanka and theTamil Tigers agree to a ceasefire, temporarily ending theSri Lankan Civil War.[72] It would last until the resumption of hostilities in 2008.[73]
February 4 – TheFederal Republic of Yugoslavia is renamed to "Serbia and Montenegro" (after its two constituent states) after its leaders reconstitute the country into a loose state-union betweenMontenegro andSerbia, ending the 73-year-long use of the name "Yugoslavia" by a sovereign state.
2003–2020 – On February 26, 2003, a conflict inDarfur,Sudan begins and escalates intofull-scale war. By 2008 it was believed that up to 400,000 people had been killed and over 2.5 million displaced. In 2005, the ICC decided that Darfur war criminals would be tried, and onJuly 14, 2008, Sudanese presidentOmar al-Bashir was charged with 5 accounts ofcrimes against humanity and 2 accounts of war crimes, even though the ICC had no power to enforce such charges. The war ends following a peace agreement on August 31, 2020.
2003–2010 – TheU.S.-led coalitioninvadesIraq on March 20, 2003, and overthrows the government ofSaddam Hussein (who is executed by the Iraqi government on December 30, 2006). Coalition troops remain in the country to install a democratic government and fight an escalating insurgency. In addition to an insurgency against the American presence, Iraq also suffered from acivil war for several years. The war was soon seen as the central front of the war on terror by many governments, despite growing international dissatisfaction with the war. Thetotal death toll has been estimated at near 150,000 but these estimations are highly disputed, with one highly disputed study guessing even over 1 million.[76] After the U.S.-led coalition initiated atroop surge in 2007, casualty numbers have decreased significantly. Combat ended, at least officially, in August 2010.
September 1 – A group of Chechen rebelsinvade a school in Beslan, keeping thousands of hostages during three days. A series of shootings and bombings kills 334 people and injured 750.
2004–2005 – Beginning on November 22, 2004, and ending on January 23, 2005, theOrange Revolution occurs inUkraine.
July 12 –Hezbollah crosses the border ofLebanon and captures two Israeli soldiers. Israelresponds by sending troops across the border and bombing Hezbollah strongholds, while Hezbollah fires missiles on towns in northern Israel, approximately 6 each day. At the end of the war 1,200 Lebanese civilians, 500 Hezbollah fighters, 44 Israeli civilians and 121 Israeli soldiers die. A ceasefire is signed onAugust 14, after which Israeli troops withdrew from Lebanon.
January 9 – Apple CEOSteve Jobs introduces the originaliPhone at a Macworld keynote inSan Francisco, starting the new era of smartphones with this invention.
January 25 – Acivil war escalates in theGaza Strip throughout June, which would result in theHamas driving mostFatah-loyal forces out from the Strip. In reaction, Palestinian presidentMahmoud Abbas dismisses Hamas Prime MinisterIsmail Haniyeh and dissolves the Hamas-ruled parliament. Scattered conflict continues.
November 26–29 – The financial capital ofIndia,Mumbai, isattacked by ten Pakistani terrorists belonging toLashkar-e-Taiba, resulting in 175 deaths (including nine attackers). One gunman, namedAjmal Amir Kasab, is captured alive by Mumbai Police and executed on 21 November 2012.
June 25 – American pop starMichael Jacksondies at the age of 50. His death triggers an outpouring of worldwide grief; online reactions to the event cripple several major websites and services, as the abundance of people accessing theweb addresses pushesinternet traffic to unprecedented and historic levels.[98]
September 17 – TheOccupy movement, an international protest movement againstsocial andeconomic inequality, takes shape. It is partially inspired by the Arab Spring and is one of the first significant global protest movements to occur in the age ofsocial media.
February 28 –Pope Benedict XVI resigns, becoming the first pope to do so since 1415. Benedict takes the titlepope emeritus. At the subsequentpapal conclave, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina is elected pope onMarch 13, becoming the first Latin American pope. Bergoglio takes the name ofPope Francis.
Iran allows international inspections on its nuclear policy in exchange of the removal of the sanctions and the right to produce a small amount of low-grade enriched uranium, thus marking an apparent new policy towards theUnited Nations underHassan Rohani's presidency.
January 7 – Two gunmen, brothers Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, commita mass murder at the offices ofCharlie Hebdo inParis, killing 12 people. Following the attack, about two million people, including more than 40 world leaders, met in Paris for arally of national unity, and 3.7 million people joined demonstrations across the country. The phraseJe suis Charlie became a common slogan of support at the rallies and in social media.
January 8 –Joaquín Guzmán, widely regarded as the world's most powerful drug trafficker, is recaptured following his escape from a maximum-security prison in Mexico.[108]
In thegeneral election of the Republic of China (Taiwan), the Democratic Progressive Party, led byTsai Ing-wen, secured a majority in the Legislative Yuan, resulting in the first majority by a non-KMT party and the first majority won by the DPP. Tsai become the 14th President forTaiwan, and also become the first female leader for China.[110]
June 5 –Hillary Clinton becomes theDemocratic Party's nominee for president of the United States, making her the first woman to be nominated for president by a major party.
January 27 – U.S. PresidentDonald Trump signs anexecutive order restricting travel and immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries. This order was blocked by theU.S. federal courts; a second, related order issued by Trump was also blocked by the federal courts. The block of second order was partially removed, by the Supreme Court, in June. The Supreme Court stated they would reconsider the order in October.
March 31 –Horacio Cartes presents to Congress his plans of allowing the re-election of thepresident of Paraguay for a second term, going against theConstitution of Paraguay, leading to apolitical crisis which ended in the storm of Congress by liberal activists and in the assassination of Rodrigo Quintana by the police. After this, the Congress votes against the re-election project.[116]
October 28 –Jair Bolsonaro iselected as the 38th president ofBrazil, after having been stabbed during the election campaign and undergoing three surgeries.
At the first ever GlobalSchool Strike for Climate, 1.4 million people in about 2,200 protests across 125 countries gathered urging decision-makers to take responsibility and stop theclimate crisis.[122]
September 20 – Likely the largest in world history, theSeptember 2019 climate strikes included protests in 4,500 locations across over 150 countries and gathered roughly 6 million people, many of them schoolchildren.[127]
August 11 –Kamala Harris becomes the Democratic Party's nominee for vice-president of the United States, making her the firstAfrican-American, the firstAsian-American and the third female vice presidential running mate on a major party ticket.
November 3 –Joe Biden iselected as the 46th president of the United States, andKamala Harris is elected as vice-president. Biden is the oldest person elected to a first term.
January 6 –Pro-Trump rioters storm the US Capitol, disrupting the Congressional certification of United States President-electJoe Biden. Trump isimpeached a second time a week later for his role in the storming, making him the first US federal official to be impeached more than once and the first president to have histrial occur after his tenure expired.
June 7 – TheJuno spacecraft performs its only flyby ofJupiter's moonGanymede, the first flyby of the moon by any spacecraft in over 20 years.[146][147]
February 6 – Twoearthquakes strike southernTurkey, the first 7.8 () in Gaziantep Province and the other 7.5 Mww in Kahramanmaraş Province, causing widespread damage and at least 58,000 deaths inTurkey andSyria, with more than 120,000 injured.[161][162]
July 14 –SAG-AFTRA held itsstrike against the major film and TV studios in protest of low compensation, ownership of work, andgenerative AI. It was ended on November 9.
December 12 – At theCOP28 climate summit inDubai, a consensus is reached for countries to "transition away" from fossil fuels, the first such agreement in the conference's 30-year history.
Ethiopia announces an agreement withSomaliland to use the port ofBerbera. Ethiopia also says that it will eventually recognize Somaliland'sindependence, becoming the first country to do so.
Astrobotic Technology alongsideNASAlaunch the first commercial Lunar Lander. Seven hours after launch, an anomaly prevents stable orientation due to propulsion issues, resulting in critical fuel loss and the abandonment of the moon landing.
Donald Trump, 45th and 47thpresident of the United States. His political beliefs and style of governance, known asTrumpism, have shaped global politics since his first presidency and redefined the global image of the United States.
January 20 – Donald Trump is inaugurated as President of the United States for his second term.[198] The Chinese Large Language ModelDeepseek is launched.[199]
United States legislator from MinnesotaMelissa Hortman and her husband areassassinated in their home. LegislatorJohn Hoffman and his wife are also shot and seriously injured.[211]
TheNo Kings protests are held across the United States to protest the Trump administration.
Russian PresidentVladimir Putin withGeorge W. Bush and other Western leaders inMoscow, 9 May 2005Protesters try to stop members of theG8 from attending the summit during the27th G8 summit inGenoa,Italy by burning vehicles on the main route to the summit.
Some territories and states have gained independence during the 21st century. This is a list of sovereign states that have gained independence in the 21st century and have been recognized by theUN.
NASA successfully lands theCuriosity rover on the surface ofMars.Artist's impression ofNew Horizons' close encounter with the Pluto–Charon system
Beginning on 3 November 2000, humans have had an uninterrupted presence in space which has lasted to this day. This is because of theInternational Space Station, a spacecraft that wasassembled in low Earth orbit with a series of interconnected modules,solar panels,radiators, and eightdocking ports,[236] with thefirst module being launched in 1998.[237] Until its planned retirement in 2030, it will continue to host astronauts that will pioneer in scientific research and spacecraft control.[238]Private spaceflight became increasingly common with non-government-funded companies making more and more technological advancements.SpaceX, founded byElon Musk, wishes to pave the way for aself-sustaining colony on Mars to ensure the survival of humanity.[239] In the early 2020s, some journalists have used the phrase "New Space Age" in reference to a resurgence of innovation and public interest in space exploration as well as commercial applications oflow Earth orbit (LEO) and more distant destinations. New developments includethe participation of billionaires in crewed space travel, includingspace tourism andinterplanetary travel.[240][241]
In 2017, the first confirmedvisitor from another star system (1I/ʻOumuamua) was seen passing byEarth.[253] It is one of three known interstellar objects known to be currently passing through theSolar System, all three of which have unusual characteristics. In 2019, the first photograph of ablack hole (Messier 87) was captured.[254] The number ofexoplanets known dramatically increased, with 6,042 being known as of 2025,[255] some of which are in thehabitable zone and exhibit possible biosignatures.[256]
2010 – TheLarge Hadron Collider's first high energy collisions took place in March 2010.
2012 – Physicists discover theHiggs boson based on collisions at the Large Hadron Collider, on 4 July. It is the latest particle to be discovered in theStandard Model.[257]
A violent tornado impacts areas aroundEl Reno, Oklahoma.[264] TheUniversity of Oklahoma's RaXPol mobile Doppler weather radar, positioned at a nearby overpass, measured winds preliminarily analyzed as in excess of 296 mph (476 km/h). These winds are considered the second-highest ever measured worldwide, just shy of the 302 ± 22 mph (486 ± 35 km/h) recorded during the1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado.[265][266]
TheDigital Revolution continued into the early 21st century with mobile phone usage andGlobal Internet usage growing massively, becoming available to many more people, with more applications and faster speeds.
2001 Gujarat earthquake – An earthquake in Gujarat, India on 26 January 2001, killed approximately 20,000 people.
January 2001 El Salvador earthquake – A 7.9 earthquake in El Salvador shook the whole country on 13 January 2001, causing a major devastating landslide, hundreds dead, thousands injured and many homeless. A month later, on 13 February 2001, the country suffered a second earthquake – 6.7
2003 European heat wave – Approximately up to 70,000 people were killed across Europe in a summer long heat wave.
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami – On 26 December 2004, a massive undersea earthquake resulted in a massive tsunami striking southeast Asia killing approximately 230,000.
2005 Hurricane Katrina – The hurricane killed 1,836 in southeast Louisiana and Mississippi (mostly inNew Orleans) and South Florida. A significant portion of the city, most of which sits below sea level, was submerged. Damages reached US$81.5 billion, making Katrina the costliest tropical cyclone ever recorded in the U.S.
2008 Cyclone Nargis – lead to catastrophic storm surge, leading to a death toll in excess of 100,000 and making millions homeless.
2008 Sichuan earthquake – An earthquake between 7.9 and 8.0-magnitude struck Sichuan, China, on 12 May 2008, killing 68,712, with 17,921 missing.
2009Black Saturday bushfires – The Black Saturday bushfires were a series of bushfires that ignited or were burning across the Australian state of Victoria, Australia on and around Saturday, 7 February 2009. The fires occurred during extreme bushfire-weather conditions and resulted in Australia's highest ever loss of life from a bushfire; 173 people died and 414 were injured.
2009 L'Aquila earthquake – A 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes nearL'Aquila (Italy) on 6 April 2009, one of the worst in Italian history. 308 were pronounced dead and more than 65,000 were made homeless.
2010 Haiti earthquake – At least 230,000 are killed in Haiti after a massive earthquake on 12 January 2010. Three million people were made homeless.
2010 Chile earthquake – A massive earthquake, magnitude 8.8, strikes the central Chilean coast on 27 February 2010.
2010 Yushu earthquake – A large 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck the Yushu region of China in Qinghai near Tibet, on 14 April 2010, killing over 2,200 people.
2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull – A massive ash cloud is formed by the eruption of the Icelandic volcanoEyjafjallajökull, on 14 April 2010, grounding flights across northwest Europe. Scientists began recording volcanic activity there in 2009 which increased through March 2010 culminating in the second phase eruption in April.
2010 Pakistan floods – Began in July 2010 after record heavymonsoon rains. TheKhyber Pakhtunkhwa province ofPakistan was worst affected. At least 1,600 people were killed, thousands were rendered homeless, and more than thirteen million people were affected.[280][281][282][283][284] Estimates from rescue service officials suggest the death toll may reach 3,000 victims.[285]
2011 Queensland floods – Began in December 2010 primarily inQueensland. The flood causes thousands of people to evacuate. At least 200,000 people were affected by the flood. The flood continued throughout January 2011 in Queensland, and the estimated reduction inAustralia's GDP is about A$30 billion.
Cyclone Yasi – A category 5 (Australian Scale) cyclone hits North Queensland with winds as strong as 290 km/h (197 miles/hr) and devastates the residents of North Queensland.
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami – On 11 March 2011, a catastrophic undersea earthquake of magnitude 9.0 occurred offshore of easternJapan, the greatest in the country's history and created a massive tsunami which killed 15,894; it also triggered theFukushima I nuclear accidents. The overall cost for the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accidents reached up to US$235 billion, making it the costliest natural disaster on record.
2011 Super Outbreak – Regarded as the deadliest tornado outbreak ever recorded, a catastrophic tornado outbreak on 25–28 April affected theSouthern United States and killed over 330 people, most of whom were in or fromAlabama. Damages are expected to be near or over $10 billion.
2011 Joplin tornado – On 22 May 2011, a devastating EF5 tornado struckJoplin, Missouri, resulting in 159 casualties, making it the deadliest tornado to hit the United States since 1947.
2013 Bohol earthquake – An earthquake of magnitude 7.2 that killed 22 people and destroyed a total worth of ₱2.25 billion,
Typhoon Haiyan 2013 – kills more than 6,000 people in centralPhilippines. Considered to be one of the strongest storms ever, it brought major damage and loss of life to the Philippines, especially the islands ofLeyte andSamar. A worldwide humanitarian effort began in the aftermath of the typhoon.
April 2015 Nepal earthquake – An earthquake of 7.8 magnitude kills almost 9,000 people, injures another 22,000 and leaves nearly 3 million people homeless in Central Nepal. The earthquake was so strong it was felt in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
2016 Taiwan earthquake – An earthquake of 6.4 magnitude kills 117 people, injures 550, and 4 people were left missing. The earthquake resulted in 3 executives of the Weiguan developer being arrested under charges of professional negligence resulting in death.
2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami – A shallow, large earthquake struck in the neck of theMinahasa Peninsula, Indonesia, with its epicentre located in the mountainous Donggala Regency, Central Sulawesi. The magnitude 7.5 quake was located 70 km (43 mi) away from the provincial capital Palu and was felt as far away asSamarinda on East Kalimantan and also inTawau, Malaysia.
2020s
Unprecedented flooding displaces millions and threatens famine inSudan andSouth Sudan in 2020–2021.[289][290]
On 12 January 2020, the Taal Volcanoerupted for the first time in 43 years.
At least 20 people are killed in2021 Henan floods in China after heavy rainfall (at least 20c per hour) exacerbated by the approach ofTyphoon In-fa breaks existing records.
The2021 European floods kill over 188 people and devastate Belgium, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Croatia, Switzerland, Italy and Luxemburg. Floods in Germany prove to be the deadliest since theNorth Sea Flood of 1962.
In September 2022,Hurricane Ian hit the west coast of Florida as a Category 4 Atlantic hurricane, becoming the deadliest hurricane to hit Florida since the 1935 Labor Day hurricane.
Towards the end of the month of September 2024,Hurricane Helene made landfall in theBig Bend region of Florida at category 4 strength, causing catastrophic damage. Towards the end of its life, Helene hit the states ofGeorgia,South Carolina andNorth Carolina, becoming the fifth costliest tropical storm on record with estimates up to $78.7 billion (in 2024 USD).
Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling unit in the Gulf of Mexico on fire in 2010
On 27 July 2002, aSukhoi Su-27 fightercrashes at anair show inUkraine, killing 77 and injuring more than 100, making it the worst air show disaster in history.
TheBlack Saturday bushfires – the deadliestbushfires in Australian history took place across theAustralianstate ofVictoria on 7 February 2009, during extreme bushfire-weather conditions, resulting in 173 people killed, more than 500 injured, and around 7,500 homeless. The fires came afterMelbourne recorded thehighest-ever temperature (46.4 °C, 115 °F) of any capital city in Australia. The majority of the fires were ignited by either fallen or clashing power lines or deliberately lit.
On 10 April 2010, Polish PresidentLech Kaczyński, his wife and 94 other people, including dozens of government officials, are killed ina plane crash.
On 20 April 2010, an explosion on theDeepwater Horizon offshoredrilling rig, operating in theGulf of Mexico off the coast ofLouisiana, left eleven crewmen dead and resulted in a fire that sank the rig and caused a massive-scaleoil spill[291] that may become one of the worst environmental disasters inUnited States history.[292] On 18 June 2010, oceanographer John Kessler said that the crude gushing from the well contains 40 percent methane, compared to about 5 percent found in typical oil deposits. Methane is a natural gas that could potentially suffocate marine life and create "dead zones" where oxygen is so depleted that nothing lives. "This is the most vigorous methane eruption in modern human history", Kessler said.[293] On 20 June an internal BP document was released by Congress revealing that BP estimated the flow could be as much as 100,000 barrels (4,200,000 US gallons; 16,000 cubic metres) per day under the circumstances that existed since 20 April blowout.[294][295]
No other epidemic or pandemic in the century compared to the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of mortality or societal impact. Nonetheless, other epidemics and pandemics in the century included the worldwide2009 swine flu pandemic, an uptick in globalH1N1 influenza cases.[300] The pandemic resulted in possibly up to 1.4 billion cases and 284,000 deaths.[301][302]
In 2013, anepidemic of the Ebola Virus began inWest Africa. After cases reached their peak in October 2014[303] and the epidemic was over by 2016,[304] the infection count had reached 28,646 cases and 11,323 deaths – an extraordinarily high case-fatality rate (40%).[305]
Therecession caused by theCOVID-19 pandemic forced many governments and economic sectors to heavily invest and restructure, especially through widespread introduction ofremote work.
Economic restructuring was pursued in many economies due to globalclimate change.
Association football is the most popular sport worldwide with theFIFA World Cup being the most viewed football event. Other sports such as rugby, cricket, baseball, basketball, ice hockey, tennis, and golf are popular globally. Incricket, the emergence of theTwenty20 format and the creation of theIndian Premier League led to changes in the nature of the sport. American swimmerMichael Phelps won an Olympic record setting 8 Gold medals at the2008 Summer Olympics.
QuarterbackTom Brady played in 10 Super Bowls, the most ever.
In theNational Football League, theNew England Patriots were the dominant franchise of the first two decades of the 21st century, winning sixSuper Bowls between their first, in 2001, and their most recent, in 2018 and appearing in an additional three others. Head CoachBill Belichick and quarterbackTom Brady led the team during the stretch, with Brady also leading theTampa Bay Buccaneers to an additional Super Bowl following the 2020 season. Other teams with multiple Super Bowl appearances over that time period include thePhiladelphia Eagles,New York Giants,Kansas City Chiefs,Seattle Seahawks, andCarolina Panthers. Besides Brady, who also won threeAssociated Press NFL Most Valuable Player Award (MVP), other highly recognized players include quarterbackPeyton Manning, who won five MVP awards, the most in history, and quarterbackAaron Rodgers who won three MVPs, who in 2011 set the NFL record for seasonpasser rating. Successful offensive players at other positions include wide receiverRandy Moss, who set the record for most receiving touchdowns in a season with 23 in 2007, wide receiverMichael Thomas, who set the NFL record for most receptions in a season with 149 in 2019, tight endRob Gronkowski, who became the first tight end to lead the league in receiving touchdowns in 2011, and running backAdrian Peterson, who set the all-time NFL record for rushing yards in a game with 296 in 2007, his rookie year. Key defensive players of the century include safetyEd Reed, who led the league in interceptions three times, linebackerRay Lewis, who set the career tackles record when he retired in 2012, and linebackerJ. J. Watt, who is the only player to record more than 20 quarterback sacks in two different seasons.
In Americancollege football, the sport saw the creation of theCollege Football Playoff, the first playoff forNCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, the highest level of college football in the U.S. The series was dominated by two teams, theClemson Tigers andAlabama Crimson Tide, at least one of which has played in every Playoff since its inception in 2014 and between them have won all but one of said championships. Prior to 2014, the method of determining the champion was done via theBowl Championship Series (BCS), a single championship game that attempted to match the top two teams in the country using a series of polls and computer rankings to choose the top two teams. In the BCS era, the top teams were Alabama, which won three BCS Championships, andFlorida State,LSU, andOklahoma, which won two BCS Championships each.Nick Saban, who led both LSU and Alabama to one and seven national championships respectively, was the most dominant coach of his era, while quarterbacks dominated theHeisman Trophy, winning 16 of 20 during the first two decades of the 21st century. Several controversies over the payment of athletes dominated the sport, with Heisman Trophy winnerReggie Bush being forced to return his award over receiving improper benefits while maintaining amateur status, while officials and media continued to debate the possibility of paying athletes at all levels ofcollege athletics.
InCanadian football, the league opened the 21st century facing an uncertain financial future, suffering from the failures of the experiment of trying to fieldCanadian football teams in the United States and having to contract a large number of teams at the end of the 20th century. The league fluctuated between eight and nine teams as two different Ottawa-based franchises failed during the first decade of the 21st century. The league found stability during the 2010s, and showed surprising parity between the teams, with all nine teams appearing in at least oneGrey Cup during the 2000s and 2010s, and with only theMontreal Alouettes winning back-to-back titles during those two decades, in 2009 and 2010. QuarterbackAnthony Calvillo of the Alouettes was the face of the league during his career, winning threeMost Outstanding Player Awards and setting several passing records in the process.
Michael Schumacher broke many records in the first few years of the century, including the record for most races won (91), most World Championships (7), and most pole positions (68) by the time he retired in 2006. In 2010, he announced his comeback toFormula One after three years out of the sport, retiring again in 2012.
Sebastian Vettel broke numerous records on his way to becoming Formula One's youngest ever world champion, in 2010 at age 23, and then the youngest ever double world champion, in 2011 at age 24.
Sébastien Loeb became the most successful rally driver ever, winning theWorld Rally Championship a record 9 consecutive times between 2004 and 2012. He also set new records for the most wins, podium finishes and points scored.
Casey Stoner won his secondMotoGP world title (2007 and 2011), and announced his retirement from the sport at just 27 years of age, citing disagreement with the direction of the sport and a desire to spend more time with his family. His retirement became effective at the end of the 2012 MotoGP season. Stoner has won every MotoGP-branded race at least once.
Roger Federer won 20Grand Slam titles (6 Australian Opens, 1 French Open, 8 Wimbledons, and 5 US Opens) to surpassPete Sampras' record of 14.
Roger Federer,Rafael Nadal andNovak Djokovic each completed a Career Grand Slam, winning the singles championships in theAustralian Open,French Open,Wimbledon andUS Open; Nadal also won the Olympic Singles gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics to complete a Golden Career Slam.
At the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, John Isner and Nicolas Mahut completed thelongest tennis match ever. Isner won 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(7), 7–6(3), 70–68.
In 2019, Rafael Nadal became the first male player to win a single Grand Slam tournament (French Open) 12 times.
Serena Williams won 23 Grand Slam titles (7 Australian Opens, 3 French Opens, 7 Wimbledons, and 6 US Opens) in the 21st century, to add to her 1999 US Open title. Including a 2017 Australian Open win whilst 8 weeks pregnant
Maria Sharapova became the first female Russian player to reach No.1 on 22 August 2005. She also retired in 2020.
China'sLi Na won the2011 French Open, becoming the first player, male or female, from that country to win a Grand Slam.
In the late 2010s,NFTs, unique digital assets that represent ownership or proof of authenticity for a specific item, primarily used for digital art, as a new form of investment asset, began surging dramatically. However, many considered them to be aneconomic bubble or aPonzi scheme.[308] In 2022, the NFT market collapsed; a May 2022 estimate was that the number of sales was down over 90% compared to 2021.[309] By September 2023, over 95% of all NFTs had zero monetary value.[310]
At the beginning of the century, thecompact disc (CD) was the standard form of music media, but alternative forms of music media started to take its place such asmusic downloading andonline streaming. Aresurgence in sales ofvinyl records in the 2010s was driven byrecord collectors andaudiophiles who prefer the sound of analog vinyl records to digital recordings. In 2020, for the first time since the 1980s, vinyl surpassed CDs as the primary form of physical media for consumers of music, though both were still surpassed by online streaming, which by the 2020s became the predominant way that people consumed music.[311] As of 2024, the most active music streaming services wereYouTube (2 billion monthly music users, 100 million premium subscribers),Spotify (615 million monthly users, 239 million premium subscribers),Tencent Music (576 million monthly users, 106.7 million premium subscribers),NetEase Cloud Music (205.9 million monthly users, 44.1 million premium subscribers),Gaana (185 million monthly users),SoundCloud (175 million monthly users),JioSaavn (100 million monthly users), andApple Music (60 million subscribers).[312]
As with music, the story of the first three decades of the 21st century was the growth ofstreaming television services in competition with older forms of television, such asTerrestrial television,cable television, andsatellite television. The first major company to dominate the streaming service market wasNetflix, which began as aDVD-delivery service in the late 1990s, transitioned into an online media streaming platform initially focused on delivering content produced by studios, then began to produce its own content, beginning with the popular and critically acclaimed seriesHouse of Cards in 2013. Netflix's success encouraged the creation of numerous other streaming services, such asDisney+/Hulu (Disney),YouTube Premium (Google),Amazon Prime Video, andHBO Max (WBD), the latter of which, within a year of its launch, overtook Netflix as the most downloaded television streaming application.[313]
Population: The world's population demographics will shift considerably, with the population ofEurope andEast Asia predicted to decline considerably and the population ofAfrica, and to a lesser extentSouth Asia, to grow considerably, unless there are policy changes. TheUnited Nations estimatesworld population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050, and peak at nearly 10.4 billion in the 2080s.[317]
Poverty: Poverty remains the root cause of many of the world's other ills, includingfamine,disease, and insufficienteducation. Poverty contains many self-reinforcing elements (e.g. it can makeeducation unaffordable, which results in continuing poverty) thataid groups hope to rectify. Progress has been made in reducing poverty, especially inChina andIndia, but increasingly inAfrica as well.[320]
Intellectual property: The increasing popularity of digital formats forentertainment media such asmovies andmusic, and the ease of copying and distributing it via theInternet andpeer-to-peer networks, has raised concerns in the media industry aboutcopyright infringement (piracy). Much debate is proceeding about the proper bounds between protection ofcopyright,trademark andpatent rights versusfair use and thepublic domain, where some argue that such laws have shifted greatly towards intellectual property owners and away from the interests of the general public, while others say that such legal change is needed to deal with a perceived threat of new technologies against the rights of authors andartists (or, as some put it, against the outmoded business models of the entertainment industry).[325][326]
^Frank, Michael (22 September 2023)."US Leadership in Artificial Intelligence Can Shape the 21st Century Global Order".The Diplomat.Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved8 December 2023.Instead, the United States has developed a new area of dominance that the rest of the world views with a mixture of awe, envy, and resentment: artificial intelligence... From AI models and research to cloud computing and venture capital, U.S. companies, universities, and research labs – and their affiliates in allied countries – appear to have an enormous lead in both developing cutting-edge AI and commercializing it. The value of U.S. venture capital investments in AI start-ups exceeds that of the rest of the world combined.
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^Pieter Groenemeijer (ESSL); Lothar Bock (DWD); Juan de Dios Soriano (AEMet); Maciej Dutkiewicz (Bydgoszcz University of Science and Technology); Delia Gutiérrez-Rubio (AEMet); Alois M. Holzer (ESSL); Martin Hubrig; Rainer Kaltenberger; Thilo Kühne (ESSL); Mortimer Müller (Universität für Bodenkultur); Bas van der Ploeg; Tomáš Púčik (ESSL); Thomas Schreiner (ESSL); Miroslav Šinger (SHMI); Gabriel Strommer (ESSL); Andi Xhelaj (University of Genova) (30 July 2023)."The International Fujita (IF) Scale"(PDF). European Severe Storms Laboratory. Retrieved30 July 2023.
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Clapton, William, ed. (2014).Risk and Hierarchy in International Society: Liberal Interventionism in the Post-Cold War Era. Palgrave Macmillan UK.ISBN978-1-137-39636-5.
Dai, Jinhua; Rofel, Lisa, eds. (2018).After the Post–Cold War: The Future of Chinese History. Duke University Press.ISBN978-1-4780-0038-9.
Duong, Thanh (2017) [2002].Hegemonic globalisation: U.S. centrality and global strategy in the emerging world order. Ashgate.ISBN978-0-7546-3013-5.
Gertler, Mark; Gilchrist, Simon (2018). "What happened: Financial factors in the great recession".Journal of Economic Perspectives.32 (3):3–30.doi:10.1257/jep.32.3.3.
Harrison, Ewan (2004).The Post-Cold War International System: Strategies, Institutions and Reflexivity. London: Routledge.ISBN978-0-415-32836-4.
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Jackson, Robert J. and Philip Towle.Temptations of Power: The United States in Global Politics after 9/11 (2007)
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