From terrorist attacks to the outbreak of a deadly pandemic, the year 2020 could easily be marked as one of the most tumultuous years in the history of the world. 2020 has been a standout year for all the wrong reasons.
At least 207 natural disasters were recorded globally during the year. Extreme weather conditions have increased dramatically over the past years, leading to one severe disaster after the other. Here is a list of some notable events that happened in this year:
World in the grip of COVID-19 pandemic
Nothing more bizarre than a pandemic could have hit the world. In December 2019, the first case of the deadly coronavirus was identified in Wuhan, China. In a matter of months, the virus has spread across the globe to more than 20 million people, resulting in at least 751,000 deaths.
The first two cases of the deadly pandemic were reported in Pakistan on February 26. The cases were reported one each in Sindh and a ‘federal area’. Both the patients travelled to Iran.
Australia bush fire 2019-2020
The year 2020 saw many massive wildfires and forest fires around the world, including the Australian bushfires which started last year and continued until March. The bushfire burnt more than 46 million acres, resulting in animal and human habitats being lost.
Several endangered species faced the risk of total extinction. More than a third of the Koala bear population in the forest was killed in the bushfire. In January, a wave of heavy rainfall brought some relief in the intensity of fire in some areas that helped the firefighters in conducting rescue operations.
However, at the start of February, hotter weather escalated the crisis again. In March, heavy rainfall helped firefighters take control of the fire again, finally bringing Australia’s most devastating bushfire to an end.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle quit royal family
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex shocked both sides of the pond on Jan. 8 when they announced they were stepping down as “senior” royals. The announcement came after they took a stand against the ill-treatment of themselves by the monarchy.
Quetta blast
At least 14 worshippers, including a deputy superintendent of police and a cleric, were martyred, while 21 others sustained injuries in a powerful blast that struck a mosque-cum-seminary in the Ghosabad area of Quetta on January 10.
The blast targeted the worshippers at the Madrassa Darul Uloom Al Sharia while they were offering Maghrib prayers. The explosion also ripped apart the seminary’s doors and shattered its windows.
Kobe Bryant’s death
The legendary basketball player was killed along with his daughter, Gianna, and seven others when their helicopter crashed in Calabasas, Calif., on Jan. 26. The pilot became disoriented in dense fog, the helicopter losing altitude, slamming into a hillside of tall grass and brush.
Locust everywhere
Another nightmare in 2020 is the locust swarms that affected dozens of countries, especially in Asia, Africa and some parts of India. This year’s locust swarms were one of the worst pest attacks in almost 26 years. The sudden increase of locusts occurred due to a change in the climatic conditions.
Locusts are notorious for eating up a crop within seconds. Farmers around the world faced difficulty as the pests destroyed all their seasonal crops. Pakistan’s government on February 1 declared a national emergency in the country to effectively combat the locust attack and approved a national action plan to ward off the threat.
PIA Plane Crash
A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK8303, carrying 99 people on board, including eight crew members, crashed into a densely populated residential area near the Karachi airport on May 22.
Ninety-seven people perished in the accident that also caused considerable damage to the residential area the plane crashed in. A probe revealed many pilots carry bogus licenses. PIA was banned from flights to Europe.
Tensions Flare between Iran and the United States
Bad blood between Tehran and Washington still persists after four decades. On January 3, a U.S. drone strike killed Qasem Soleimani, the leader of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Iran retaliated over the next two months with rocket attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq, injuring dozens of U.S. troops and killing many Iraqis. Tensions flared again in April when several Iranian speedboats harassed U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf, prompting Trump to tweet that he had issued orders “to shoot down” Iranian gunboats if the harassment continued.
Black Lives Matter protests
The police-involved killing of George Floyd this year on May 25 sparked a wave of peaceful — and sometimes violent — demonstrations and riots across the world to demand an end to police brutality and racial injustice.
More protests erupted in August when 29-year-old Jacob Blake was shot by a Kenosha, Wisconsin, cop and paralyzed from the waist down.
PSX terror attack
Gunmen attacked the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) building on June 29 martyring three guards and a policeman before security forces killed all four of the attackers. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack in a post on Twitter but Reuters was not able to verify the authenticity of the claim.
Beirut explosion
A massive explosion at a Beirut port, sparked August 4 by the accidental detonation of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, killed at least 190 people and injured thousands of others.
Unprecedented rains in Sindh
In August, Sindh faced several moderate to heavy spells of rain. Karachi alone recoded 484mm of rain, the highest ever recorded in the city over nine decades.
The rainwater had overflowed from drains, flooding major causeways, residential and commercial locations. Days-long power outages and gridlocks kept the city residents disturbed for several days.
Pakistan Democratic Movement
The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) began its countrywide protest campaign against the Imran Khan-led government by holding a maiden power show in Gujranwala on October 16.
The alliance had also announced that all parliamentarians would submit their resignations from the assemblies. JUI-F Chief also announced a long march on Islamabad.
Normalization ties with Israel
A bright spot in 2020 came from the Middle East of all places. On August 13, the Trump administration announced it had helped broker a deal in which the United Arab Emirates (UAE) recognized Israel. On September 11, Bahrain announced it would join the deal. Sudan joined the deal in October, and Morocco followed suit in December.
Joe Biden becomes president-elect.
Joe Biden became the 46th president of the United States on Nov. 7, defeating President Trump with a critical assist from his birth state, Pennsylvania, which delivered the votes to propel him to victory and end one of the most contentious elections in recent memory.
COVID-19 vaccine rollout
The first Americans were vaccinated against the coronavirus on December 14 after the US Food and Drug Administration approved the emergency use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 shot on Dec. 11.
The arrival of the two vaccines, which were developed in less than a year, was touted as one of the greatest scientific accomplishments in US history. Thus, began a series of inoculation processes in several countries, restoring some hope against the deadly virus.
