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The '''21st century''' is the current ] of the '']'' era, in accordance with the ]. It began on January 1, 2001<!-- DON'T CHANGE YEAR TO 2000. THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY STARTS 2001, NOT 2000. --> and will end on December 31, 2100.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://courses.wcupa.edu/jones/his101/misc/dates.htm|title=HOWTOUSEDATESINHISTORY|website=courses.wcupa.edu|access-date=2017-07-18}}</ref>It is the first century of the].
The '''21st century''' is the current ] of the '']'' era, in accordance with the ]. It began on January 1, 2001<!-- DON'T CHANGE YEAR TO 2000. THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY STARTS 2001, NOT 2000. --> and will end on December 31, 2100.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/millennium.php |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130603024618/http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/millennium.php |archivedate=June 3, 2013 |title=The 21st Century and the 3rd Millennium When Did They Begin? |publisher=United States Naval Observatory |accessdate=June 7, 2013 |deadurl=yes |df= }}</ref><ref>"". Royal Observatory Greenwich</ref> It is the first century of the ]. It is distinct from the time span known as the '''2000s''', which began on January 1, 2000 and will end on December 31, 2099.
The 21st century is the current century of the Anno Domini era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. It began on January 1, 2001 and will end on December 31, 2100. It is the first century of the 3rd millennium. It is distinct from the time span known as the 2000s, which began on January 1, 2000 and will end on December 31, 2099.
Transitions and changes
Shanghai has become a symbol of the recent economic boom of China.
The first years of the 21st century have thus far been marked by the rise of a global economy and Third Worldconsumerism, mistrust in government, deepening global concern over terrorism and an increase in the power of private enterprise. The long term effects of increased globalization are not known, but there are many who are concerned about its implications. The Arab Spring of the early 2010s led to mixed outcomes in the Arab world. The Digital Revolution which began around the 1980s also continues into the present. Millennials and Generation Z come of age and rise to prominence in this century.
Religion has been declining worldwide, with an estimated 1.1 billion unaffiliated people in 2010.
The completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003 marks the continual rise of life sciences, making mankind's long-held dreams, such as curing cancer, more realistic. By the 2010s, gene therapy, first performed somatically in late 1990 and heritably in 1996, showed promise but remains an experimental and emerging technology.
Assistive reproductive technology developed in the 1980s, such as polar body biopsy and preimplantation genetic diagnosis, has allowed for the selection of genetic traits, and, along with the advent of ultrasound, has increased the number of boys and decreased the number of girls in many countries, most notably in China and India but also in other Asian and eastern Europe countries. This began in the late 1980s in China and India and after the fall of communism in the Balkans and Caucasus regions, concurrent with both the advent of capitalism in those countries and the widespread availability of reproductive technology.
While digital telecommunications technology became widely used by most of the world, concerns about stress from the overuse of mobile phones, the Internet, and related technologies remain controversial.
By 2013, about 80% of the world's population used mobile phones. An estimated 33% owned personal computers in 2010, and 46% used the Internet by 2016, compared to about 1% in 1996.
The distribution of modern technology is not equal – in 2012 it was estimated that 1.5 billion people, or about 20% of the world's population still lacked access to electric power, with many more having only intermittent or poor access.
The International Energy Agency estimates that 83% of the global population has access to electricity as of 2013 with the percentage projected to increase to 88% by 2030.
Population
The world population was about 6.1 billion at the start of the 21st century. It had reached 7.3 billion in 2015, and is estimated to reach about 9.37 billion by the year 2050.
Pronunciation
There is a debate among experts and the general public on how to pronounce specific years of the 21st century in English. Regarding this, academics suggested that since former years such as 1805 and 1905 were commonly pronounced as "eighteen oh" or "nineteen oh" five, the year 2005 should naturally have been pronounced as "twenty oh-five". A less common variation would have been "twenty nought-five". Generally, the early years of the 21st century were pronounced as "two-thousand (and) five", with a change taking place in 2010, where pronunciations often shift between the early-year standard of "two-thousand and ten" and the common approach used in the late 20th century of "twenty-ten".
The Vancouver Olympics, which took place in 2010, was being officially referred to by Vancouver 2010 as "the twenty-ten Olympics". The latest timeframes for change are usually placed at 2020.
According to The Stanley Kubrick Archives, in the press release for his film 2001: A Space Odyssey, film director Stanley Kubrick included specific instructions for journalists to refer to the movie as "two thousand and one" instead of the commonplace pronunciation of "twenty-oh-one". Kubrick said he did this in the hope that if the film became popular, it would influence the pronunciation of that year.
Genocide still remains a problem in this century with the concern of the war in Darfur and the growing concern in Sri Lanka. Low estimates on the deaths in Darfur stand around 200,000 deaths with 2.5 million in displacement, there has been much outcry against the perpetrators, the Sudanese government, and the very weak international response. Also controversies from past genocides remain commonplace in the minds of victims and average people alike.
Events that changed the course of the century
Protesters try to stop members of the G8 from attending the summit during the 27th G8 summit in Genoa, Italy by burning vehicles on the main route to the summit.George W. Bush
2000s
1998–2002 – The Second 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 from Rwanda and Uganda continued to support rebel groups against the Democratic 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. On December 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.
2001–2014 – The Northern Alliance and NATO-led ISAFinvadedAfghanistan on October 7, 2001, and overthrew the Al-Qaeda-supportive Taliban government. Troops remained to install a democratic government, fight a slowly escalating insurgency, and to hunt for Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden who was killed by American troops nearly 10 years later, on May 2, 2011. On December 24, 2014 NATO forces officially ended combat operations in Afghanistan; but forces still remain to the present.
2003–present – In February 2003, a conflict in Darfur, Sudan, began and soon escalated into full-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 on July 14, 2008, Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir was charged with 5 accounts of crimes against humanity and 2 accounts of war crimes, although the ICC has no power to enforce these charges.
2003–2010 – The U.S.-led coalitioninvadedIraq on March 20, 2003, and overthrew the government of Saddam Hussein (who was 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 a civil 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. The total 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. After the U.S.-led coalition initiated a troop surge in 2007, casualty numbers have decreased significantly. Combat ended, at least officially, in August 2010.
2004 – Ten explosions occurred at the Cercanías commuter train system of Madrid, Spain, on the morning of March 11. The explosions killed 191 people and injured around 2,000.
2004 – Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo gets re-elected as President of the Philippines, marking the first time that a woman was re-elected to the highest position in the country.
2006–2008 – The dismantling of former Yugoslavia continued after Montenegro gained independence on June 3, 2006, and Kosovo declared independence on February 17, 2008. However, Kosovo's independence was disputed by Russia and many of its allies and was only partially recognized.
2006 – On July 12, Hezbollah crossed the border of Lebanon and captured two Israeli soldiers. Israel responded by sending troops across the border and bombing Hezbollah strongholds, while Hezbollah fired missiles on towns in northern Israel, approximately 6 each day. At the end of the war 1,200 Lebanese civilians, 500 Hezbollah fighteres, 44 Israeli civilians and 121 Israeli soldiers died. A ceasefire was signed on August 14, after which Israeli troops withdrew from Lebanon. Many military sources in Israel have warned about the danger of a new Israeli-Lebanese conflict back in the year 2000, when Israel has withdrawn from Lebanon.
2007 – A civil war escalated in the Gaza Strip throughout June, which resulted in Hamas eventually driving most Fatah-loyal forces from the Strip. In reaction, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh and dissolved the Hamas-ruled parliament. Scattered conflict continues.
2008 – Barack Obama was elected as the first African-American President of the United States. He was sworn into office in January 2009. He is awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which cited "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," and accepted the award the following year "deep gratitude and great humility."
2009 – Filipina politician and the first female President of the Philippines and in Asia, Corazon Aquino dies at the age of 76.
2011 – Anders Behring Breivik carries out terrorist attacks, the first being a bomb blast which targeted government buildings in central Oslo, the second being a massacre at a youth camp on the island of Utøya. It was the deadliest attack in Norway since the Second World War, with 77 people killed and 319 injuries.
2012 – In Benghazi, Libya, an attack was coordinated against two United States government facilities by members of the Islamic militant group Ansar al-Sharia on September 11.
2012 – An civil unrest broke out in Romania in January 2012, because of the introduction of a new health reform legislation, but also by the unpopularity of Băsescu-backed Boc government. The unrest continued until Victor Ponta's resignation in November 2015, in the wake of the Colectiv nightclub fire.
2013 – Pope Benedict XVI resigns on February 28, becoming the first pope to step down since 1415. Benedict takes the title pope emeritus. At the subsequent papal conclave, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina is elected pope on March 13, becoming the first Latin American pope. Bergoglio takes the name of Pope Francis.Pope Francis
2013 – 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 the United Nations under Hassan Rohani's presidency.
2014 – Israel, In July 2014 tensions rose again between Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the State of Israel, Hamas fired hundreds of missiles into civilian cities in Israel, the IDF retaliated and conducted airstrikes on the Gaza Strip for more than a month, Casualties were high on both sides.
2014 – In Burkina Faso, President Blaise Compaoré resigns amidst widespread protests ending 27 years of leadership.
2014 – On December 17, U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro announced the beginning of a process of normalizing relations between Cuba and the United States, ending a 54-year stretch of hostility between the nations. Meanwhile, on July 20, 2015, with full diplomatic relations, the embassies of both countries were opened after five decades.
2015 – Two gunmen, brothers Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, commit a mass murder at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, on January 7, killing 12 people. Following the attack, about two million people, including more than 40 world leaders, met in Paris for a rally of national unity, and 3.7 million people joined demonstrations across the country. The phrase Je suis Charlie became a common slogan of support at the rallies and in social media.
2015 – ISIL claimed responsibility of the shootings and suicide bombs in Paris on November 13, which became known as the November 2015 Paris attacks. Many were killed and injured from the incident.
2016 – In Orlando, Florida, Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old security guard, killed 49 people and wounded 53 others in a terrorist attack inside Pulse, a gay nightclub.
2016 – Hillary Clinton becomes the Democratic Party's nominee for president of the United States, making her the first woman to be nominated for president by a major party.
2016 – A coup d'état was attempted in Turkey against state institutions, including, but not limited to the government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on July 15. The attempt was carried out by a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces that organized themselves as the Peace at Home Council.
2016 – On September 2, the 1st President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov dies at age of 78, after 25 years of leadership.
2017 – U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order on January 27, 2017, restricting travel and immigration from seven Muslim-majority nations. This order was blocked by the U.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.
Some territories 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 the UN.
2005 – The Huygens probe lands on Titan, the largest of Saturn's moons, January 14.
2006 – The New Horizons probe is launched to Pluto, on January 19.
2006 – Pluto is reclassified from a planet to a dwarf planet, leaving the solar system with eight planets.
2007 – China launches its first lunar mission with the Chang'e 1, on October 24.
2008 – Chinese space program launches its third manned space flight carrying its first three-person crew and conducts its first spacewalk that makes China the third nation after Russia and USA to do that, Shenzhou 7, on September 25.
2014 – India's Mars Orbiter Mission, the nation's first attempt to send a spacecraft to Mars, successfully entered orbit on September 24, making India the fourth nation in the world to reach that goal.
2014 – The European Space Agency robotic spacecraft Philae landed successfully on the comet 67P, the first cometary landing ever.
2015 – On July 14, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft became the first to fly by Pluto, on a mission to photograph and collect data on its planetary system. No other spacecraft has yet performed such a mission so far from Earth.
2015 – On September 28, NASA announces that liquid water has been found on Mars.
2016 – On July 4, NASA's Juno space probe maneuvered into a polar orbit to study the planet Jupiter.
2017 – Seven Earth-sized exoplanets are discovered around TRAPPIST-1, three of which are potentially habitable.
2010 – The Large Hadron Collider's first high power collisions took place in March 2010.
2012 – European physicists have statistically demonstrated the existence of the Higgs boson.
2013 – A more detailed study of the cosmic microwave background done by the Planck Surveyor is published, estimating the age of the Universe to 13.8 billion years old (100 million years older than previously thought).
2013 – First human liver grown from stem cells in Japan.
2014 – Ebola virus spreads in west Africa, prompting the largest ever epidemic, with more than 20,000 cases. The first cases outside Africa are reported.
2016 – The Zika virus, caused by mosquitoes, targets unborn babies, causing birth defects on newborns making pregnant women scared of traveling overseas.
Compact discs succeeded Cassettes, and they were rapidly removed by digital downloads and online streaming. As of 2017, compact discs are still sold in stores while cassettes became extinct during the early part of the 21st century.
The World Wide Web and websites became a major new medium for storing files and information.
Mobile devices such as smartphones (iPhone was introduced in 2007) and tablets (iPad introduced in 2010) connect to the Internet. These gradually started to replace desktop and laptop computers in the early and mid-2010s, although laptop and desktop computers are still common in business, financial, medical, governmental, and educational settings. Desktop computers in home settings gradually became less common during the 2010s. Laptop computers grew rapidly in popularity from 2000 until the early 2010s, when growth leveled off due to the growth of smartphones and tablets. The smartphone and tablets became standard for many consumers.
Online streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Video became an alternative to traditional television and movie entertainment throughout the second decade of the 21st century.
Flash drives, memory cards, and online storage mediums are replacing the more traditional forms of computer storage, such as CD-RW, although this type of media still exists. Floppy disks became obsolete by the beginning of the 21st century. Such forms of storage media is able to store massive amounts of data in smaller sizes.
Broadband internet becomes widespread throughout most developed countries. Fiber optics makes extremely fast internet connections, 1 Gbit/s speeds and higher available for consumers and businesses. Lower income regions of the world use mobile internet services often delivered over 2G, 3G, or 4G/LTE wireless networks. This has created a digital divide between areas where high speed internet service is ubiquitous and where it is very limited. Broadband internet still lacks its availability in more isolated, rural communities than in populated, urban and suburban communities.
Social technology
The Digital Revolution continued into the early 21st century with mobile usage and Internet access growing massively in the early 21st century. By the 2010s, the majority of people in the developed world had Internet access and the majority of people worldwide had a mobile phone.
The Internet (created in 1969) and World Wide Web (created in 1991) continue to rise in popularity and social networking emerges in the early 21st century as a popular social communication, largely replacing much of the function of email, message boards and instant messaging services, although instant messaging services such as WhatsApp are popular among smartphone users as of circa 2015. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat are all major examples of social media apps to gain widespread popularity.
As the century began, the generations which had experienced the crises of the mid and the late 20th century (the Great Depression, World War II and the Cold War) as adults, were retiring from leadership positions and public life. Taking their places were members of the postwar "Boom" generations, whose formative experiences were the social upheavals (and, in the Western world, relative prosperity) of the 1960s and 1970s.
AIDS which emerged in the 1980s continued to spread yet more treatment of AIDS made the disease less of a deadly threat to those with access to treatment. A cure was still not found in the '00s despite expectations.
Same-sex marriage has slowly become more accepted, and has become legal in some countries. In 2001 the Netherlands became the first nation in the world to legalize this type of marriage. The 2000s decade saw significant change surrounding this social issue and the change has continued into the 2010s.
By 2001 most Western countries had removed the remaining racial language in their laws.
The early 21st century was marked by the Arab Spring, a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Arab world that began in December 2010. The results of these demonstrations have been mixed in outcome.
As of 2009, SIL Ethnologue catalogued 6,909 living human languages. The exact number of known living languages will vary from 5,000 to 10,000, depending generally on the precision of one's definition of "language", and in particular on how one classifies dialects.
Estimates vary depending on many factors but the general consensus is that there are between 6,000 and 7,000 languages currently spoken, and that between 50–90% of those will have become extinct by the year 2100. The top 20 languages spoken by more than 50 million speakers each, are spoken by 50% of the world's population, whereas many of the other languages are spoken by small communities, most of them with fewer than 10,000 speakers.
Disasters
Natural disasters
The tsunami striking Ao Nang in Thailand on December 26, 2004.
2000s
2001 Gujarat earthquake – An earthquake in Gujarat, India on January 26, 2001 killed approximately 20,000 people.
January 2001 El Salvador earthquake – A 7.9 earthquake in El Salvador shook the whole country on January 13, 2001, causing a major devastating landslide, hundreds dead, thousands injured and many homeless. A month later, on February 13, 2001 the country suffered a second earthquake – 6.7
2003 European heat wave – Approximately 30,000 people were killed across Europe in a summer long heat wave.
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami – On December 26, 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 in New 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 May 12, 2008, killing 68,712, with 17,921 missing.
2009 Black 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, February 7, 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 near L'Aquila (Italy) on April 6, 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 January 12, 2010. As of late February 2010, the death toll is expected to rise. Three million people were made homeless.
2010 Chile earthquake – A massive earthquake, magnitude 8.8, strikes the central Chilean coast on February 27, 2010.
2010 Yushu earthquake – A large 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck the Yushu region of China in Qinghai near Tibet, on April 14, 2010, killing over 2,200 people.
2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull – A massive ash cloud is formed by the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull, on April 14, 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 heavy monsoon rains. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan was worst affected. At least 1,600 people were killed, thousands were rendered homeless, and more than thirteen million people were affected. Estimates from rescue service officials suggest the death toll may reach 3,000 victims.
2011 Queensland floods – Began in December 2010 primarily in Queensland. 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 in Australia'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/hr (197 miles/hr) and devastates the residents of North Queensland.
February 2011 Christchurch earthquake – 185 people died in New Zealand after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit Christchurch on February 22, 2011, making it New Zealand's second-deadliest natural disaster after the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake.
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami – On March 11, 2011, a catastrophic undersea earthquake of magnitude 9.0 occurred offshore of eastern Japan, the greatest in the country's history and created a massive tsunami which killed 15,894; it also triggered the Fukushima 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.
April 25–28, 2011 tornado outbreak – Regarded as the deadliest tornado outbreak ever recorded and dubbed the 2011 Super Outbreak, a catastrophic tornado outbreak on April 25–28 affected the Southern United States and killed over 330 people, most of whom were in or from Alabama. Damages are expected to be near or over $10 billion.
2011 Joplin tornado – On May 22, 2011, a devastating EF5 tornado struck Joplin, Missouri resulting in 159 casualties, making it the deadliest tornado to hit the United States since 1947.
Typhoon Haiyan 2013 – kills more than 6,000 people in central Philippines. Considered to be one of the strongest storms ever, it brought major damage and loss of life to the Philippines, especially the islands of Leyte and Samar. 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.
On July 27, 2002, a Sukhoi Su-27 fighter crashes at an air show in Ukraine, killing 77 and injuring more than 100, making it the worst air show disaster in history.
The Black Saturday bushfires – the deadliest bushfires in Australian history took place across the Australianstate of Victoria on February 7, 2009 during extreme bushfire-weather conditions, resulting in 173 people killed, more than 500 injured, and around 7,500 homeless. The fires came after Melbourne recorded the highest-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 April 10, 2010, Polish President Lech Kaczyński, his wife and 94 other people, including dozens of government officials, are killed in a plane crash.
On April 20, 2010 an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig, operating in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana, left eleven crewmen dead and resulted in a fire that sank the rig and caused a massive-scale oil spill that may become one of the worst environmental disasters in United States history. On June 18, 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. On June 20 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 the April 20 blowout.
The Dow Jones recovers and gradually rises in a bull market since 2009 with significant recovery starting in 2013. The Dow Jones had reached the 20,000 mark for the first time in January 2017.
Sports
At the start of the 21st century sports are very popular. The IOC's Modern Olympic Games was the most viewed sporting event. Association football is the most popular sport worldwide with the FIFA World Cup the most viewed football event. Other sports such as rugby, cricket, baseball, basketball, ice hockey, tennis, and golf were popular globally. In cricket the emergence of the Twenty20 format as well as the creation of the Indian Premier League led to changes in the nature of the sport. American swimmer Michael Phelps won an Olympic record setting 8 Gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France seven consecutive times between 1999 and 2005. In 2012, he was stripped of these titles and banned for life for drug offenses.
Roger Federer won 18 Grand Slam titles (5 Australian Opens, 1 French Open, 7 Wimbledons, and 5 US Opens) to surpass Pete Sampras' record of 14.
Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic completed a Career Grand Slam, winning the singles championships in the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US 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 the longest tennis match ever. Isner won 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(7), 7–6(3), 70–68.
In 2014, Rafael Nadal became the first male player to win a single Grand Slam tournament (French Open) 9 times.
Tennis (Women)
Serena Williams won 22 Grand Slam titles (7 Australian Opens, 3 French Opens, 7 Wimbledons, and 5 US Opens) in the 21st century, in addition to her 1999 US Open title.
Maria Sharapova became the first female Russian player to reach No.1 on August 22, 2005.
China's Li Na won the 2011 French Open, becoming the first player, male or female, from that country to win a Grand Slam.
Michael Schumacher breaks many records in the first few years of the century, breaking the record for most races won (91), most World Championships (7), and most pole positions (68) by the time he retired in 2006. He then announced his comeback to Formula One after three years out of the sport, in 2010, before retiring again in 2012.
Sebastian Vettel breaks 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 becomes the most successful rally driver ever, winning the World Rally Championship a record 9 consecutive times between 2004–2012. He also sets new records for the most wins, podium finishes and points scored.
Casey Stoner wins his second MotoGP world title (2007 and 2011) before announcing 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 is effective at the end of the 2012 MotoGP season. Stoner has won every MotoGP-branded race at least once.
Golf
The 2002 Ryder Cup was won by Europe 15 and a half to USA's 12 and a half.
The 2004 Ryder Cup was won by Europe 18 and a half to USA's 9 and a half.
The 2006 Ryder Cup was won by Europe again 18 and a half to USA's 9 and a half.
The 2008 Ryder Cup was won by USA 16 and a half to Europe's 11 and a half.
The 2010 Ryder Cup was won by Europe 14 and a half to USA's 13 and a half.
The 2012 Ryder Cup was won by Europe 14 and a half to USA's 13 and a half.
The 2014 Ryder Cup was won by Europe 16 and a half to USA's 11 and a half
Entertainment during the 21st century had evolved from the same types of entertainment which emerged around the middle of the 20th century. Sports, films, music, TV series' and books remained popular into the early 21st century but new forms of entertainment including social networking and internet accessed videos became popular. Video games had emerged from a childhood pastime in the late 20th century to an fully grown adult pastime by the beginning of the 21st century. The most popular mediums of entertainment in the first decade at least were via televisions, the internet, CDs, DVDs and paper. Digital information begins to complete its succession over analog information and storage techniques.
2010 – Release of the third installment of the Toy Story franchise becomes the world's highest grossing animated film, making over one billion dollars in the box-office.
2011 – Completion of the Harry Potter film series.
2012 – Disney buys Lucasfilm for $4.06 billion thus gaining control of the Star Wars franchise and related licenses.
2000s (decade) – Rising popularity in underground genres of music such as Death Metal and Black Metal, some fusion genres emerging as a specific fusion such as Blackened Death Metal.
2000s (decade) – The early 21st century has had a profound impact on the condition of music distribution. Recent advents in digital computing & storage technology have fundamentally altered industry and marketing practices as well as players in heretofore unusual rapidity.
2006 – The Single "Hips Don't Lie" by Colombian artist Shakira, became the most successful song of the decade worldwide. Holding up to date as the biggest gross Single of the Century.
2009 – A. R. Rahman won Oscars for original score and original song in Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire, becoming the first Indian composer to strike gold at the annual Hollywood awards. He was also awarded with Golden Globe and two Grammys for the same composition.
2016 – Death of David Bowie, at the age of 69. He died, on January 10, two days after the release of his final album, Blackstar. Also, American Pop musician Prince dies at the age of 57, from a fentanyl overdose.
2000s (decade) – Myspace, Facebook and YouTube emerge in the 2000s (decade), with the very first social networks in the 1990s.
2010s – Myspace fades, but Facebook and YouTube remain popular, and new sites such as Twitter, Pinterest, and Reddit emerge. Facebook replaces Digg as the most popular media sharing site and become more similar to Digg and Pinterest in function.
2010s – Social networking moves from the desktop platform to the more mobile platform, especially with the younger generation, with applications such as Snapchat, Whisper, Foursquare, Instagram and WhatsApp. Facebook also purchased Instagram in July 2012.
2010s – Cross-platform social networking is becoming popular, some examples of these are Facebook and Telegram.
2010s – Tinder changes the face of online dating as well as dating customs. Users have the ability to "swipe" other users that they are interested in or not interested in, and find connection by mutual liking. Gab, a social network that proclaims "free speech" for everyone, launches. While still in beta, it grows rapidly for more than 8 months before opening to the public.
There are several points-of-view pertaining to the following items, all of which should be considered accordingly.
Issues that have been frequently discussed and debated so far in this century include:
Global warming. Climate scientists have reached a consensus that the earth is undergoing significant anthropogenic (human-induced) global warming. The resulting economic and ecological costs are hard to predict. Some scientists argue that human-induced global warming risks considerable losses in biodiversity and ecosystem services unless considerable sociopolitical changes are introduced, particularly in patterns of mass consumption and transportation. Global Peak Oil forecast. Virtually all economic sectors rely heavily on petroleum.
Fossil fuels are becoming scarce and more expensive, due to the escalating demand for petroleum ("oil") and oil-based products such as gasoline and kerosene, unmatched by production. Discovery of new oil fields has not been sufficient to sustain current levels of production, and some fear that the earth may be running out of economically viable oil, pressing for alternatives. As Agrofuel, one possible alternative, yields further hazards for the environment and endangers food security, debate is far from over. Electric cars such as the Nissan Leaf have been built to address the problem of peak oil.
Globalization. Advances in telecommunications and transportation, the expansion of capitalism and democracy, and free trade agreements have resulted in unprecedented global economic and cultural integration. This has caused (and is continuing to cause) economic and cultural shifts which have been the subject of considerable controversy.Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2006. Almost 97% of future population growth will occur in developing countries.
Overpopulation. The United Nationsestimates that world population will reach 9.2 billion by mid-century. Such growth raises questions of ecological sustainability and creates many economic and political disruptions. In response, many countries have adopted policies which either force or encourage their citizens to have fewer children, and others have limited immigration. Considerable debate exists over what the ultimate carrying capacity of the planet may be; whether or not population growth containment policies are necessary; to what degree growth can safely occur thanks to increased economic and ecological efficiency; and how distribution mechanisms should accommodate demographic shifts. Evidence suggests that developed countries (such as Japan) suffer population implosion, and the population debate is strongly tied with discussions about the distribution of wealth.
Poverty. Poverty remains the root cause of many of the world's other ills, including famine, disease, and insufficient education. Poverty contains many self-reinforcing elements (for instance, poverty can make education an unaffordable luxury, which tends to result in continuing poverty) that various aid groups hope to rectify in this century. Microcredit lending has also started to gain a profile as a useful anti-poverty tool.
Power in international relations. Issues surrounding the cultural, economic, and military dominance of the United States and its role in the world community have become even more pointed given its recent military activities, problematic relations with the United Nations, disagreement over several international treaties, and its economic policies with regard to globalization. Integration of the European Union and the African Union have proceeded.File:The West vs. Russia.svgThe world map with EU\NATO countries in blue and Russia in red.
Intellectual property. The increasing popularity of digital formats for entertainment media such as movies and music, and the ease of copying and distributing it via the Internet and peer-to-peer networks, has raised concerns in the media industry about copyright infringement. Much debate is proceeding about the proper bounds between protection of copyright, trademark and patent rights versus fair use and the public domain, where some argue that such laws have shifted greatly towards intellectual property owners and away from the interests of the general public in recent years, while others say that such legal change is needed to deal with a perceived threat of new technologies against the rights of authors and artists (or, as others put it, against the outmoded business models of the current entertainment industry). Domain name "cybersquatting" and access to patented drugs and generics to combat epidemics in third-world countries are other IP concerns.
Technology developments show no sign of slowing. Communications and control technology continues to augment the intelligence of individual humans, collections of humans, and machines. Cultures are forced into the position of sharply defining humanity and determining boundaries on desire, thought, communication, behavior, and manufacturing. Some, notably Ray Kurzweil, have predicted that by the middle of the century there will be a technological singularity if artificial intelligence that outsmart humans is created. In addition, some economists have expressed concerns over technological unemployment.
LGBT rights are a major political issue in many places, with same sex marriage being legalized in several jurisdictions during the first two decades of the century, but outlawed by constitutional amendment in other places. Meanwhile, some countries such as Uganda and Russia moved to toughen their laws against any sort of homosexual behavior or expression. Political battles over pro- or anti-gay legislation provoked much activism in the streets and on the Internet.
NATO–Russia relations seem to remain strained as the "Western Alliance" and NATO square off with Russia and other nations over international policy and the future of the ex-Soviet sphere. An Eastern Europe Missile Defense Shield, military and social conflicts in former Yugoslavia and the Caucasus (particularly Georgia and Chechnya), fossil fuel infrastructures like the Nabucco pipeline and the future of nuclear arsenals are among the topics that have strained the relations between the two sides with eerie reminders reminiscent of the Cold War.
Water crisis. As the human population increases, so has the demand for water. Desalination has been used more and more to address this issue.
War on Drugs. Increasingly, the legal, social and military battle led by governments against drug cartels around the world show little results in ending drug trading and consumption, and a constant increase in the lives taken from this struggle. Notably, after 2006 in the Mexican Drug War, more than 100,000 human lives have been lost to this conflict. Some jurisdictions have enacted some degree of legalization or decriminalization of some kinds of drugs, notably including several U.S. states legalizing marijuana either for recreational or medical use.
November 22, 2065: At 12:45 UTC, Venus will occult Jupiter. This event will be the first occultation of a planet by another since January 3, 1818. This event will be very difficult to observe from Earth's surface, because the elongation of Venus and Jupiter from the Sun on that date will be only 7 degrees.
2066: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Uranus.
July 15, 2067: At 11:56 UTC, Mercury will occult Neptune. This rare event will be very difficult to observe from Earth's surface, because of the constant low elongation of Mercury from the Sun, and the magnitude of Neptune always under the limit of visibility with the naked eye.
Friday, November 10, 2084: Transit of Earth as seen from Mars, the first and the only one in this century.
2100: Polaris appears furthest north. Polaris' maximum apparent declination (taking account of nutation and aberration) will be 0.4526° from the celestial north pole, on March 24, 2100.
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East Timor (Timor-Leste) on May 20, 2002
Montenegro on June 3, 2006
Serbia on June 3, 2006
South Sudan on July 9, 2011
Kosovo on February 17, 2008 (partially recognized)
South Ossetia on August 26, 2008 (partially recognized)
Abkhazia on August 26, 2008 (partially recognized)
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in June 2014. Had taken over much of Iraq, Syria and Libya. It is considered a terrorist organization.
