21st century

In calendars based on the Christian Era or Common Era, such as the Gregorian calendar, the 21st century is the current century, as of this writing. By some interpretations, it lasts from 2001 to 2100, and the 3rd millennium lasts from 2001 to 3000. This is based on the argument that there was no Year Zero, so the first century began in year 1 http://www.astronomyboy.com/millennium/. However, common usage often regards the 21st century as lasting from 2000 to 2099. In 2000 the ISO implicitly backed this common usage by creating a calendar that incorporates a Year Zero (see 20th century). Decades are almost always considered as starting with the "0" year and named accordingly ("2010s", etc.), so the first decade of a century could overlap back into the preceding one.

Issues and concerns

Some of the things that have dominated discussion and debate in this century include:

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• Globalization. Advances in telecommunications and transportation, the expansion of capitalism and democracy, and free trade agreements have resulted in unprecedented global economic and cultural integration. This has caused (and is continuing to cause) huge economic and cultural shifts which have been the subject of considerable controversy.
• Overpopulation. The United Nations estimates that world population will reach 9.1 billion by mid-century. Such growth raises questions of ecological sustainability and creates many economic and political disruptions. In response, many countries have adopted policies which either force or encourage their citizens to have fewer children, and others have limited immigration. Considerable debate exists over what the ultimate carrying capacity of the planet may be; whether or not population growth containment policies are necessary; to what degree growth can safely occur thanks to increased economic and ecological efficiency; and how markets should accommodate demographic shifts. Evidence forms that developed countries (such as Japan) suffer population implosion, and the population debate is strongly tied with poverty.
• Poverty. Poverty remains the root cause of many of the world's other ills, including famine, disease, and insufficient education. Poverty contains many self-reinforcing elements (for instance, poverty can make education an unaffordable luxury, which tends to result in continuing poverty) that various aid groups hope to rectify in this century.
• Disease. AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria each kill over a million people annually. HIV remains without a cure or vaccine, and is growing rapidly in India and much of the African continent. Antibiotic resistance is a growing concern for organisms such as tuberculosis. Other diseases, such as SARS, ebola, and flu variations, are also causes for concern. The World Health Organization has warned of a possible coming flu pandemic resulting from bird flu mutations.
• War and Terrorism. Dozens of active conflicts rage around the world, including civil wars in Congo, Indonesia, Chechnya, Côte d'Ivoire, Somalia, Nepal, Senegal, Colombia, and what some called a genocide in Darfur, Sudan. The September 11, 2001 attacks triggered invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. The War on Terror has seen controversies over civil liberties, accusations of torture, continued terrorist attacks, and ongoing instability, violence, and military occupation. Violence continues in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Considerable concern remains about nuclear proliferation, especially in Iran and North Korea, and the availability of weapons of mass destruction to rogue groups.
• Climate change. Most scientists expect that significant anthropogenic climate change will occur during the 21st century, resulting in unprecedented economic and ecological costs. Others dispute the severity of the problem. Trends such as global warming, pollution, biodiversity loss and resource depletion all are growing factors that will contribute to significant issues in this century. Water in particular is an area of serious concern. Another instance of significant resource depletion is evident in oil production, which some scholars predict will reach a peak early in this century, then begin a permanent downward trend.
• Global power. Issues surrounding the cultural, economic, and military dominance of the United States and its role in the world community have become even more pointed given its recent military activities, problematic relations with the United Nations, disagreement over several international treaties, and its economic policies with regard to globalization. Integration of the European Union and the African Union have proceeded.
• Intellectual property. The increasing popularity of digital formats for entertainment media such as movies and music, and the ease of copying and distributing it via the Internet and peer-to-peer networks, has raised concerns in the media industry about piracy. Much debate is proceeding about the proper bounds between protection of copyright, trademark and patent rights versus fair use and the public domain, where some argue that such laws have shifted greatly towards intellectual property owners and away from the interests of the general public in recent years, while others say that such legal change is needed to deal with the threat of new technologies against the rights of authors and artists (or, as others put it, against the outmoded business models of the current entertainment industry). Domain name "cybersquatting" and access to patented drugs to combat epidemics in third-world countries are other IP concerns.
• Technology developments show no sign of ending. Communications and control technology continues to augment the intelligence of individual humans, collections of humans, and machines. Cultures are forced into the position of sharply defining humanity and determining boundaries on desire, thought, communication, behavior, and manufacturing.

The United Nations lists global issues on its agenda here and lists a set of Millennium Goals to attempt to address some of these issues.

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