2022 has been an eventful year to say the least. I think this has been one of the most important years of the twenty-first century. In this article I will try and include the most notable events throughout the year and their impacts. The first thing would be the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. It seems like this disease will survive for many years to come. As of December 8th, 2022, in the United States the Coronavirus has taken 1,108,115 lives, and around a third of the population has gotten Covid. The vaccines for Coronavirus have been given to 64.5% of the world’s population. We could see a decrease in the amount of Covid cases soon, but with its constant mutations it is hard to tell, especially since some of the mutations are resistant to the vaccines.
Under the pressure of the Covid pandemic, the economy took a hit. The US economy is at a high risk of a recession, consistent with the high likelihood of a global recession in 2023. The inflation rate in the US is also really bad- it has risen 9% this year. The main causes of this spike are major supply chain issues, rising wages and stimulus checks. Inflation has made life much harder for people across the country. The middle class has especially been affected by inflation, with the cost of living going up constantly, making it difficult for a lot of people to keep up. The gas prices throughout the country reached very high, which also contributed to inflation because the supply chains rely on energy certainty.
Part of the reason the gas prices reached so high is due to the Russo-Ukraine war. Russia was a huge supplier of fuel and their economy was heavily reliant on these fuel exports. This caused an issue when many Western countries attacked the Russian economy. This and other sanctions had the intended effect on the Russian economy- however, the West did cut off one of the biggest fuel exporters in the world, so gas prices have risen majorly due to that. The Russo-Ukrainian war also had the effect of majorly souring all Russian relations with the rest of the world. Russia has found itself majorly isolated and the claim that they are a superpower was overwhelmingly proven false due to their inability to successfully invade Ukraine. Because of all of this, Russia feels very threatened and might take drastic measures which would severely damage the world.
Another thing that threatens the world is climate change. The full result of Climate change has not been shown yet, but we are seeing some of the things the world is in store for. Europe this year has experienced a bad heat wave. Calling it a bad heatwave is probably an understatement. In a smaller heat wave, parts of France have reached temperatures as high as 104 degrees (Fahrenheit). The main heat wave left temperatures reaching 104-109 degrees Fahrenheit. The European Union has stated there were fifty thousand excess deaths this summer related to the heat. Drought has also been affecting the European Union and the rest of the world. 2022 has been the sixth hottest year in recorded history.
Rapidly increasing political tensions is another problem plaguing the US. The country is more divided than ever, excluding the civil war of course. The country’s two political parties both have almost completely opposing views, and the uncompromising nature of both parties has led to enormous division. This year’s Midterm election has resulted in a Democrat-controlled senate and, a Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
The future is very uncertain, and all of the previously mentioned events might make this year sound awful but, this article cannot cover every single event, but it can give us some idea of where we are heading amidst the different viewpoints on where that path should take us.
