Notables

January 19, 2038 – 32-bit computer clocks overflow to represent the date as December 13, 1901.

The Mars-Grunt sample return mission is proposed to launch in the mid-2020s.

Assuming that the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation runs through a 70-year quasi-cycle (after peaks in 1880 and 1950), its current warm phase is likely to reach its peak.

Voyager 2 is expected to stop transmitting back to Earth in the 2020s.

The ESA (Europe), CNSA (China), FKA (Russia), and ISRO (India) each plan to send a human mission to the Moon.

Plans are under discussion for a human mission to Mars by the middle of the decade.

In 2008, futurist Ray Kurzweil put 2029 as the year most likely for a breakthrough in Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). He expects that around this time, computers will reach human intelligence levels, and shortly thereafter surpass the capabilities of the human brain.

As of December 2009, the United States Census Bureau projects a world population of 8.4 billion by 2030.

By 2022, India is projected to surpass China as the most populous country.

Gerontologist Aubrey de Grey predicts there is a “50/50 chance” of significantly extending the healthy human lifespan by around the year 2036.

The interaction of the three main decadal solar cycles suggests an upcoming reduction in solar activity, with a low-energy period centered on 2020. As suggested by John Maddox of Nature, this might mitigate the global warming trend (at least temporarily) in the 2010s and 2020s.