2050
2050 (MML) will be a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar.
Targets
Scientific forecasts and projections
- In November 2006, Achim Steiner, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, “warned of a global collapse of all species being fished, if fishing continues at its current pace.”[2]
- In October 2007, artificial intelligence researcher David Levy predicted that by 2050, human-robot marriages, human-robot sex, and human-robot porn will become common.[3]
- According to a 2002 study by World Wildlife Fund, planet Earth will not have sufficient resources to sustain human life by this year.[4] This is barring the fact that vertical farms, which have potential to have a far greater cultivating and livestocking capacity than their flat, traditional grandfathers, will help sustain the ever-growing population beyond the capacity that traditional farms will be able to ever sustain.
- In March 2006, Professor Gerry Gilmore predicted that ground-based astronomy would become impossible by this year because of pollution from aircraft exhaust trails and climate change.[5]
- In November 2001, the United Nations Population Fund reported that the world population is projected to be 9.3 billion in 2050 from 6.1 billion then with most of the increase in developing countries even as the population of industrialized countries will "remain stable".[6] This figure was revised to 9.1 billion in 2005 and 9.2 billion in 2007. In 2008, the United States Census Bureau projected a world population of 9.5 billion.[7]
- Another study done by the European Commission, community research said that the world population is expected to grow at a decreasing rate to 8.9 billions in 2050 and after 2030, the population in several countries including Europe and China will decrease. Stabilization in the population will happen in the second half of the century.[8]
- By 2050, the price of PEM fuel cell is as low as 100 Euro/KWH compared to the present value of 8000 Euro/KWH. This is because most cars work on fuel cell technology and Hydrogen gas.[8]
- In 2002, it was predicted that the number of people suffering from Alzheimer's disease in the United States would triple by 2050 to 16 million. This was higher than the earlier projection of 14 million in 1990.[9] In June 2007, a study by American researchers concluded that the global prevalence of Alzheimer's disease will quadruple by 2050 from its 2006 figure to over 100 million.[10] However, this does not take into account the possibility that medical science will eventually advance to the point where society will figure out how to stop and reverse the effects of Alzheimer's.
- Arnulf Jaeger-Walden of the European commission's Institute for Energy believes that solar power from North Africa can provide 100 GW to the entire continent of Europe.[11]
- The United Nations predicts that 2 out of every 9 people in the world will be 60 years or older. World life expectancy at birth is also expected to exceed 76 years.[12]
- Goldman Sachs predicts that by 2050, the five largest economies in the world along with the United States will be Brazil, Russia, India, China, and Mexico.[13][14]
In fiction
Literature
Television
- Immortal Grand Prix (2005): The second season takes place during the middle of this year.
- The start of events in the UK situation comedy Come Back Mrs. Noah.
- Children's television series Silversun starts on its 90-year journey to a livable planet 45 light years from Earth.
Film
Computer and video games
- Shadowrun (1993)
- Maelstrom (2007)
References
- ↑ Kuhn, Anthony (2008-07-08). "G-8 pledges to halve emissions by 2050". NPR. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92342739. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ↑ Kanter, James (2007-10-26). "U.N. Warns of Rapid Decay of Environment". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/26/world/26environ.html.
- ↑ Choi, Charles (2007-10-15). "Forecast: Sex and Marriage With Robots by 2050". Fox News. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,301717,00.html. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ↑ Townsend, Mark (2002-07-07). "Earth 'will expire by 2050'". London: The Observer. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/jul/07/research.waste. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ↑ "Telescopes 'worthless' by 2050". BBC News. 2006-03-02. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4755996.stm. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ↑ "U.N. Says Four Billion Will Be Living in Hunger by 2050". The New York Times. 2001-11-08. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F04E0DF1E39F93BA35752C1A9679C8B63. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ↑ "Total Midyear Population for the World: 1950-2050". U.S. Census Bureau. 2008-12-15. http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idb/worldpop.html. Retrieved 2009-03-30.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/fp7/energy/docs/weto-h2_en.pdf
- ↑ "Study: Alzheimer's could infect 16M by 2050". USA Today. 2002-07-23. http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2002-07-23-alzheimers_x.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ↑ Sanderson, David (2007-06-11). "Alzheimer’s cases around the world to quadruple by 2050". London: Times Online. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article1913178.ece. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ↑ Alok Jha (July 22, 2008). "Saharan sun to power European supergrid". London: guardian.co.uk. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/22/solarpower.windpower. Retrieved January 6, 2010.
- ↑ "The World at Six Billion". United Nations. http://www0.un.org/esa/population/publications/sixbillion/sixbilpart1.pdf. Retrieved January 6, 2010.
- ↑ BRIC thesis Goldman Sachs Investment Bank, "BRIC"
- ↑ "The N-11: More Than an Acronym" - Goldman Sachs study of N11 nations, Global Economics Paper No: 153, March 28, 2007.
External links