2040s

The 2040s (pronounced "twenty-forties") is a decade of the Gregorian calendar that will begin on January 1, 2040, and will end on December 31, 2049.

"2048" redirects here. For the number, see 2048 (number). For the video game, see 2048 (video game).

Millennium:	3rd millennium
Centuries:	20th century 21st century 22nd century
Decades:	2020s 2030s 2040s 2050s 2060s
Years:	2040 2041 2042 2043 2044 2045 2046 2047 2048 2049
Categories:	By country By topic

This list includes notable predictions by world organizations and figures of ideal goals set. It also includes scheduled events as of the present year that include treaties and/or deals with expiration dates. The information provided below comes with uncertainty as predictions and events are almost always changing with up to date information.

Notable predictions and known events

2040

"2040" redirects here. For the 2019 documentary film, see 2040 (film).

• France plans to ban the sale of all new diesel and petrol cars by this year.[1]
• Japan will have shut down the last of its nuclear power plants.[2]
• Projected completion date for the Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T) rail corridor running from Germany to southern Italy.[3]
• Amsterdam aims to be fossil fuel-free by this year, powering its electric cars, trucks, boats, and buildings with energy generated by wind, solar, and biomass.[4]
• Completion of the Northeast Corridor high-speed rail route, running from Boston to Washington, D.C.[5][6]
• NASA predicts that by this year it will cost only tens of US dollars per pound to launch humans or cargo into space.[7]
• Start of construction of DEMOnstration Power Station.

2041

• The Antarctic treaty will come under review.[8][9]
• Scheduled completion of the proposed project to create a railroad connecting Moscow to New York.[10]
• The joint venture partnership between Volkswagen Group China and SAIC Motor is scheduled to end.[11]

2042

• April 30 – A Nickelodeon time capsule, sealed in April 1992, will be opened.[12]
• September 17 – A common computing representation of date and time on IBM mainframe systems will overflow with potential results similar to the year 2000 problem.
• The Trident D5 submarine-launched nuclear missile will be phased out.[13]
• According to the United States Census Bureau, U.S. residents who identify themselves as being Hispanic or Latino, African American, Asian, Pacific Islander and Native American will collectively outnumber those who identify as being white of non-Hispanic origin.[14]

2043

• 2043 will see the close of 6000 years of human history, according to the count of years in the Hebrew Old Testament. This may be readily computed by placing the construction of Solomon's Temple (1 Kings 6:1) at 966 BC, a widely accepted date based on the work of Edwin Thiele in the mid 20th century.[15] From 966 BC count back 2992 years to the first man, as given in the Old Testament record (1656 Adam to the Flood,[16] 427 to Abraham,[17] 430 to the Exodus,[18] 479 to 1 Kings 6:1.)[19] This places the first man at 3958 BC. 6000 years forward takes one to 2043 AD.

2044

• May – A METI message Cosmic Call 2 sent from the 70-metre Evpatoria Planetary Radar arrives at its destination, 55 Cancri star.
• September – Another METI message Cosmic Call 2 sent from the 70-metre Evpatoria Planetary Radar arrives at its destination, HD 10307 star.

2045

• Futurist Ray Kurzweil predicts a technological singularity for this year, i.e. a runaway cycle of self-improvement by intelligent machines, resulting in explosive technological development.[20]
• Based on Ray Kurzweil's ideas, Time magazine predicts humans will be immortal by this year.[21]
• Reunification of the Korean peninsula; proposed by South Korean president Moon Jae-in.[22]
• Demographic projections "foresee the population of Egypt overtaking that of Russia by 2045," according to Niall Ferguson.[23]
• Two of Japan's largest cities - Tokyo and Osaka - will be connected by a direct high-speed maglev route.[24]
• According to a 2003 NASA study, a manned mission and subsequent colonization of Jupiter's moon Callisto may become possible around this year.[25]
• The 2045 Initiative ends.

2047

• July - A METI message called Teen Age Message sent from the 70-meter Eupatoria Planetary Radar will arrive at its destination, 47 UMa star.
• July 1 – The present "one country, two systems" in Hong Kong may end, as it was guaranteed for 50 years starting from July 1, 1997, provided under the Hong Kong Basic Law. The agreement was raised by Deng Xiaoping to deal with Hong Kong's reunification with the People's Republic of China in 1997, and stipulated in the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984. What will be done is not stated in any document.[26]
• December 31 – After this date, works published between January 1, 1978, and December 31, 2002, have the possibility of entering the public domain in the United States. The existing copyright law specifically prohibits any work created during that period from automatically entering the public domain before this date.[27]

2048

• January 14 – The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty will come up for review.[28]
• February 29 – There will be a rare full moon on a leap day, this event happens roughly once every century.[29]

2049

• December 20 – The present "One country, two systems" with Macau, guaranteed for 50 years starting from December 20, 1999, provided under the Basic Law, will expire.[30]
• Stated completion of the Belt and Road Initiative, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.[31]
• Full time job hours may be shorter than at start of 21st century. People may work full time only 2 days of the week (instead of the current 5 in 2019).[32]

Predicted astronomical events

2040

• September 8 – Planetary alignment of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and the crescent Moon.[33]
• The Great Red Spot on Jupiter's atmosphere will become circular according to calculations based on its reduction rate at present. [34]

2044

• October 1 – Occultation of Regulus by Venus. The last was on July 7, 1959 and the next will occur on October 21, 3187, although some sources claim it will occur on October 6, 2271.

Speculations

2040

• Most meat will not come from slaughtered animals, but instead will be cultured meat or plant-based.[35]
• Space-based solar power will be commercially viable.[36]
• Global energy consumption will have increased by 56% from 2010, from 524 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) to 820 quadrillion Btu.[37]
• Pollen counts will be more than double today's level, due to climate change.[38]

Fictional references

• 21st century in fiction

See also

• Foresight (psychology)
• Futures studies
• Outline of futures studies
• Technology forecasting
• Time series

References

1. "New diesel and petrol vehicles to be banned from 2040 in UK - BBC News". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
2. Justin McCurry (September 19, 2012). "Japan plans to end reliance on nuclear power within 30 years | World news". The Guardian. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
3. Jim Baumann. "Development of Alpine Rail Link using GIS". Archived from the original on March 6, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2011.
4. "Top EV-Friendly Cities: What Are They Doing Right?". Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
5. Falk, Tyler (July 9, 2012). "On Amtrak, Philadelphia to New York in 37 minutes | ZDNet". Smartplanet.com. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
6. "The Amtrak Vision for the Northeast Corridor : 2012 Update Report" (PDF). Amtrak.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 30, 2015. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
7. "JSC Celebrates 40 Years of Human Space Flight". NASA. September 3, 2002. Retrieved January 6, 2010.
8. Jagadish Khadilkar (2017). Antarctica: The Frozen Continent's Environment, Changing Logistics and Relevance to India. Bloomsbury Publishing.
9. "13 Indians take the harshest route in the world to save Antarctica". economictimes.indiatimes.com. March 16, 2015. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
10. Bering Strait crossing BBC News
11. "VW extends co-operation with Chinese JV partner FAW Group for another 25 years". www.autocarpro.in.
12. Crezo, Adrienne (June 25, 2012). "Every item inside time capsule Nickelodeon buried in 1992". Mental Floss. Mental Floss, Inc. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
13. "U.S. Nuclear Modernization Programs". Arms Control Association. August 2016. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
14. Ortman, Jennifer M.; Guarneri, Christine E. (2009), "United States Population Projections: 2000 to 2050" (PDF), 2009 National Population Projections (PDF), United States of America: United States Census Bureau, archived from the original (PDF) on February 26, 2017, retrieved February 16, 2010.
15. Edwin R. Thiele, "The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings," copyright 1951 by the University of Chicago, Eerdmans Publishing Company, Revised edition, October, 1965. On page 55 of the 1965 edition, Thiele puts the 40th and last year of Solomon running from "Tishri 931 to Tishri 930" BC. Thus his year four would be from Tishri 967 BC to Tishri 966 BC, so that the spring of Solomon's fourth year, when he founded the Temple (1 Kings 6:1), would be in 966 BC. This date has been widely supported since. See Eugene Merrill, "Kingdom of Priests, A History of Old Testament Israel," 1991, page 293, "The temple was begun in 966 [BC]." Also Kenneth Kitchen, "On the Reliability of the Old Testament," 2003, Eerdmans Publishing Company, Table 7, page 83. The NIV Study Bible cites "966 BC" in a footnote to 1 Kings 6:1, as fixed by "events in the reigns of later Israelite kings and Assyrian chronological records."
16. "Studies in the Scriptures," Volume 2, 1889, pages 43, 44.
17. "Studies in the Scriptures," Volume 2, 1889, pages 43, 44.
18. "Studies in the Scriptures," Volume 2, 1889, pages 43, 44.
19. 1 Kings 6:1 (from the Exodus in the spring, to year number 480 in the spring, was 479 intervening years).
20. Lamb, Gregory M. (December 10, 2005). "Progress at light speed: Ray Kurzweil". USA Today. Retrieved January 28, 2008.
21. Grossman, Lev (February 10, 2011). "Singularity: Kurzweil on 2045, When Humans, Machines Merge - TIME". Content.time.com. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
22. "Korean peninsula will be united by 2045, says Seoul amid Japan row". the Guardian. August 15, 2019. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
23. "The Year the World Really Changed," Newsweek, November 16, 2009
24. Archived November 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
25. "High Power MPD Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP) for Artificial Gravity HOPE Missions to Callisto" (PDF). Trajectory.grc.nasa.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 2, 2012. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
26. See also the transcript Archived April 15, 2005, at the Wayback Machine of Deng's dialogue with Margaret Thatcher.
27. "Duration of Copyright" (PDF). United States Copyright Office. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
28. Brady, Anne-Marie (2017). China as a Polar Great Power. Cambridge University Press. p. 225. ISBN 9781316844670.
29. Bart Broks. "Re: When is the next time in which a full moon falls on a leap day, Feb. 29". www.madsci.org. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
30. "10 fascinating facts about Europe's last colony in Asia – and the most crowded place on Earth". The Telegraph. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
31. "CrowdReviews Partnered with Strategic Marketing & Exhibitions to Announce: One Belt, One Road Forum". PR.com. March 25, 2019. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
32. https://www.standard.co.uk/futurelondon/skills/the-future-of-work-smart-working-technology-two-day-week-lord-mayor-a4103161.html
33. "Planets for Dessert - NASA Science". Science.nasa.gov. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
34. Siegel, Ethan (July 10, 2017). "Jupiter's Great Red Spot Gets Its First-Ever Close Up Today". Forbes. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
35. editor, Damian Carrington Environment (June 12, 2019). "Most 'meat' in 2040 will not come from dead animals, says report" – via www.theguardian.com.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
36. Nancy Owano (November 15, 2011). "IAA says 'Yes We Can' to power plants in orbit". Physorg.com. Retrieved December 31, 2011.
37. "EIA projects world energy consumption will increase 56% by 2040 - Today in Energy - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)". Eia.gov. July 25, 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
38. "The Year 2040: Double the Pollen, Double the Allergy Suffering?". NewsWise/American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI). October 30, 2012. Retrieved August 8, 2013.