Jokes about the year 2020 are practically a cliche now that 2021 is well underway, but with the new year turning out to be just as chaotic as the last one, they’re not quite past their expiration date. With the massive Australian bushfires in January, the Coronavirus pandemic throwing the world into lockdown, and the West Coast wildfires clouding US skies in the fall, it’s safe to assume that Mother Nature had more than a hand in making 2020 as tumultuous as possible. In a “this moment in history” starter pack, nature takes the lead and sets an example.

The first major event of 2020 was the start of the Australian bushfires. The fires began in 2019, but due to an unusually hot dry season, caused by hot winds and an unusual lack of rainfall, the bushfires that are usually a normal part of the Australian seasonal change became out of control. The air was filled with so much smoke that it became almost unbreathable along Australia’s eastern coastline, enough of a danger that “military assets [were] deployed in response to the fires at a scale not seen since World War II.” (Nuccitelli) This event garnered international attention through conventional media outlets and social media alike. Many people rushed to donate to relief causes, but a rise in scams that took money from donors made doing so hard. What’s more, the bushfires were proven to be exacerbated by climate change, creating a wave of political turmoil that often blocked actual news surrounding the bushfires to reach a mainstream platform. For many, this is when the popular “2020” jokes began. It’s often forgotten in the calamity of the rest of the year, but was a pivotal moment in our recent history.

The coronavirus pandemic is undoubtedly the most visible event in current world history. As of now, in early 2021, the pandemic still has not ended, after almost a year since most Western countries went into lockdown. Undoubtedly, the coronavirus pandemic is the defining event of 2020. In the U.S. alone, the unemployment rate in March was similar to that of the Great Depression, at 14.7% (Soucheray). Notably, the economy slowed and, according to many people, the world seemed to stand still. I remember having a conversation with my father, as he remarked that he had never had so little to take care of, now that the world was shutting down. A plethora of young or otherwise vulnerable workers lost their jobs, savings, and health at the worst of it. Globally, hundreds of millions of people around the world have gone into self-quarantine because of the virus. Ideally, vaccines will be available world-wide by 2023. Undoubtedly, it was the most memorable event of 2020, and hopefully will be the final major international event this decade. However, with the world reopening, the pandemic has fallen to the background of our daily routines, as we move forward, with little end in sight. While it may not have been the last event of 2020 or even the current news cycle, it is still a hot topic, and needs to be included.

The final notable event of this moment in history is ultimately the West Coast wildfires of 2020. California and Oregon typically face extreme wildfires as a part of the landscape’s natural cycle, but this year, the fires set a new record. Particularly, this season faced fires covering almost every corner of California, down even to Mexico. The California Fire Incident Archive said of the fires, “California's August Complex fire has [was] the first ‘gigafire’, as the area burned exceeded 1 million acres. The fire crossed seven counties and has been described as being larger than the state of Rhode Island.” On August 16th and 17th, 374 known fires were fought throughout California, making the situation the largest wildfire in California’s recorded history. This fire, on top of the pandemic, made 2020 a particularly hard year for the West Coast. They, perhaps, did not affect as much of the international population as the other two events, but should still be included in a starter pack nonetheless.

At this moment in history, nature is the predominant force when it comes to how humans interact with each other and their environment. Even more, as a polar vortex sweeps across the U.S. and the magnetic poles begin to shift, it’s uncertain how humans will shape their environment going forward. With massive, ever growing fires, and a disease that is tearing many countries apart, it looks like, to many, that the world won’t ever return to the uneasy peace we had lived in before. Perhaps Mother Nature is showing her hand and encouraging us to change. Perhaps we have no one to blame for this chaos but ourselves. Maybe it’s no one’s fault. Regardless, 2020 is in the past, and a new year is here. Hopefully, things will change for the better.