* There will be a major and long-lasting global recession, likely within the first 5 years of the decade, that leads to significant sociopolitical shifts in multiple countries
* Major weather events become (even more) common, CO2 levels continue to rise, climate change becomes accepted as "real" across the board very quickly by the middle of the decade, but rather than just being the gateway to more funding for research/innovation or global accords and working together, also gives rise to at least one right-wing eco-fascist type party, open talk of eugenics/depopulation, and/or a rise of a strongly authoritarian but much more eco-friendly Chinese government
* "Anti-technology" fringe movements gain as BigTech becomes increasingly villified and understood as some of the most powerful trans-nationcal corps in the world - not only sabotage+hacker movements, but also a revival of "back to the land" type commune/monastic/retreat/cult movements
* A major breakthrough is made with regards to Alzheimers/dementia
* Religiosity continues to decline across the world, however smallish cults become much more popular
* The culture wars abate somewhat, and some things have permanently changed (ie; genderfluidity and identifying as multiple genders during one lifetime will be seen as relatively common by anyone that becomes a teenager during this decade)
* Extreme poverty will continue to be eradicated and more people will have access to things like basic antibiotics and drinking water by the end of the decade, even with climate change disruption to landbases/watersheds
* Systems science methods become more mainstream - things like agent-based modeling, etc. Basic machine learning stuff is taught in high school.
* Major weather events become (even more) common, CO2 levels continue to rise, climate change becomes accepted as "real" across the board very quickly by the middle of the decade, but rather than just being the gateway to more funding for research/innovation or global accords and working together, also gives rise to at least one right-wing eco-fascist type party, open talk of eugenics/depopulation, and/or a rise of a strongly authoritarian but much more eco-friendly Chinese government
* "Anti-technology" fringe movements gain as BigTech becomes increasingly villified and understood as some of the most powerful trans-nationcal corps in the world - not only sabotage+hacker movements, but also a revival of "back to the land" type commune/monastic/retreat/cult movements
* A major breakthrough is made with regards to Alzheimers/dementia
* Religiosity continues to decline across the world, however smallish cults become much more popular
* The culture wars abate somewhat, and some things have permanently changed (ie; genderfluidity and identifying as multiple genders during one lifetime will be seen as relatively common by anyone that becomes a teenager during this decade)
* Extreme poverty will continue to be eradicated and more people will have access to things like basic antibiotics and drinking water by the end of the decade, even with climate change disruption to landbases/watersheds
* Systems science methods become more mainstream - things like agent-based modeling, etc. Basic machine learning stuff is taught in high school.