Clockwise, from top left: Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 is shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; Malian Armed Forces overthrow the Government of Mali during the Malian coup d'état; a missile attack causes destruction in Ganja during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War; a man on a burned-out car observes damage from protests following the murder of George Floyd, who was killed by police officer Derek Chauvin; the aftermath of an airstrike on Mekelle during the Tigray War in Ethiopia; destruction in the Port of Beirut, Lebanon, following an accidental explosion of ammonium nitrate that killed 218 people; mourners gather for the funeral of Iranian major general Qasem Soleimani after he was assassinated by a drone strike; a colorized transmission electron micrograph of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic, which infected billions and killed millions of people in 2020 and future years, causing the greatest stock market crash since the Great Depression and societal breakdown across the world.
Calendar year
2020 (MMXX) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2020th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 20th year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 1st year of the 2020s decade.
Calendar year
The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns, and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in the 1930s.[1] Geospatial World also called 2020 "the worst year in terms of climate change" in part due to major climate disasters worldwide, including major bushfires in Australia and the western United States, as well as extreme tropical cyclone activity affecting large parts of North America.[2] A United Nations progress report published in December 2020 indicated that none of the international Sustainable Development Goals for 2020 were achieved.[3] Time magazine used its sixth ever Red X cover to declare 2020 "the worst year ever," although the cover article itself did not go as far, instead saying, "There have been worse years in U.S. history, and certainly worse years in world history, but most of us alive today have seen nothing like this one."[4] The Golden Raspberry Awards also awarded the year the Special Governor's Award for The Worst Calendar Year EVER! at their 41st ceremony.
- ^ IMFBlog (April 14, 2020). "The Great Lockdown: Worst Economic Downturn Since the Great Depression". IMF Blog. Archived from the original on April 14, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
- ^ Datta, Anusuya (October 11, 2020). "Here's why 2020 is the worst year so far in terms of Climate Change". Geospatial World. Archived from the original on January 16, 2021. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
- ^ "2020 Report: Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals | Knowledge for policy". Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
- ^ Zacharek, Stephanie (December 5, 2020). "2020 Tested Us Beyond Measure. Where Do We Go From Here?". Time. Archived from the original on March 20, 2021. Retrieved August 15, 2021.