Humans

Fueled by exponential advances in technology, the world will change more in the next few decades than in all of human history.
The plural - humans - emphasizes the move towards technologies that enhance human capabilities beyond the individual and will have the potential for impact on societal scale.
Within fifteen years, scientists could use the gene editing technology CRISPR to make certain upgrades to human embryos - from altering physical appearances to eliminating the risk of auto-immune diseases.
China plans to land humans on the Moon by 2030 and begin mining Helium-3, a valuable isotope used in nuclear fusion that the Moon has in abundance.
Removing all anthropogenic (human made) particulate air pollution could save the UK population approximately 36.5 million life years over the next 100 years and would be associated with an increase in UK life expectancy from birth.
Since the 1960s the rate of population growth has been slowing, and demographers now predict that by the end of this century, for the first time in human history, the world's population will stop growing.
If humanity manages - against all odds - to cap global warming at under 2 C, the cornerstone goal of the 2015 Paris climate treaty, permafrost area shows a decrease of 24 percent by 2100.
In response, the best estimates of science today predict that annual global emissions from human activities must be reduced rapidly and should be eliminated by 2050 - in thirty years' time.
SpaceX, a private company, has also announced plans to land humans on Mars in the mid-2020s, with the long-term goal of enabling the colonization of Mars.
With rapidly changing technology, the speed at which businesses must operate to be competitive in a global economy and with human life expectancy rising steadily, it's clear that lifelong learning will become essential for humans to remain relevant in the workplace.
The increasing heat of the Earth is suffocating us and in five to 10 years, vast swaths of the planet will be increasingly inhospitable to humans.
Humans will look to physical enhancements such as wearable technologies to both improve their personal lives and help do their jobs.
Seventy-one percent of global respondents believe autonomous cars are better at driving than humans or will surpass human abilities within 10 years.
65% of Americans expect that, in the coming decades, robots and computers will do much of the work currently done by humans.
Violence between Indian security forces and Kashmiri locals could intensify in the coming year if the government neglects to take definitive action to curb human rights violations by security forces.
Nearly a third of Earth's soil is already degraded: At current rates, that will increase to 90 per cent by 2050, the FAO forecasts, warning that pollution from human activity such as mining and manufacturing as well as erosion are to blame.
If humanity manages - against all odds - to cap global warming at under 2 °C, the cornerstone goal of the 2015 Paris climate treaty, permafrost area shows a decrease of 24 percent by 2100.
NASA is set to send the first woman and next man to the surface on the Moon by 2024 in the Artemis mission, with plans for additional lunar missions once a year thereafter and a human exploration of Mars is targeted for the mid-2030s.
With humanity now consuming as many natural resources as Earth can produce in a year within less than seven months, consumer pressure is likely not to be the only plastics pinch point businesses will feel in the coming years.
Increasing levels of physical and cognitive human augmentation will become prevalent as individuals seek personal enhancements over the next 10 years - creating a new consumerisation effect where employees seek to exploit their personal enhancements to improve their office environment.

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Last updated: 29 March 2020