2010s

"'10s" redirects here. For decades comprising years 10–19 of other centuries, see List of decades.

The 2010s decade, pronounced "twenty-tens", "two thousand (and) tens" or simply "the tens", is the upcoming decade beginning January 1, 2010 and ending December 31, 2019.

Pronunciation

Among experts and the general public, there is a debate as to how specific years of the 21st century should be pronounced in English. Although the majority of English-speakers say "two thousand (and) X" for years of the 2000s, in theory this could mean any year up to 2999.

One article suggests that since former years such as 1809 and 1909 were commonly pronounced as "eighteen oh-nine" and "nineteen oh-nine", the year 2009 should naturally be pronounced as "twenty oh-nine", and that majority usage of "two thousand (and) X" is a result of influences from the Y2K hype, as well as the way "2001" was pronounced in the influential 1968 film, 2001: A Space Odyssey.

A January 2000 Australian Broadcasting Corporation poll found 40% of people favored calling the 2010s the "twenty tens", 60% said "two thousand and tens".

In addition, the Vancouver Olympics, taking place in 2010, are being officially referred to by Vancouver 2010 as "the twenty-ten Olympics". The London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006 has restricted the commercial use of the terms "Two Thousand and Twelve" and "Twenty Twelve", to protect the London 2012 Olympics. According to a recent press release, David Crystal, author of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, has predicted that the change of pronunciation to "twenty X" will occur in 2011, as "twenty eleven", explaining that the way people pronounce years depends on rhythm, rather than logic. Crystal claims that the rhythm or "flow" of "two thousand (and) ten", beats that of "twenty ten", but the flow of "twenty eleven" beats "two thousand (and) eleven". Alternatively, Ian Brookes, editor-in-chief of Chambers Dictionary, suggests the change will occur in 2013 (as 2012 is often referred to as "two thousand and twelve"). However, the pronunciations of 2010, 2011, etc., as "twenty ten", or "twenty eleven", requires one less syllable than "two-thousand ten", or "two thousand eleven."

Foreseeable trends

In the population

• People born during the post-World War II baby boom begin to reach the age of retirement in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. This rapid expansion of the number of retired persons is expected to have a drastic effect on the economies of these countries. For example, in the USA, Social Security and Medicare may be under strain. This expected surge in the distribution of retirement benefits has been dubbed the pension bomb.

• Those people born in the 1960s and 1970s will most likely be approaching positions of power by the end of the decade (Generation Jones plus the so-called Generation X in North America). This process has already begun with the elections of Barack Obama as U.S. President and Dmitry Medvedev as Russian President in 2008. All people of childhood age will by 2013 be a part of Generation Z, which begins in the mid 1990s.

• World population is likely to reach around 7.5 billion by the end of the decade, representing a significant slowdown in growth. In Europe and Japan, the population is projected to decline during the decade. Stabilization is likely to occur soon after 2020.

In science and technology

• IPv6 has to be deployed around the world, as the unallocated IPv4 address pool is projected to be exhausted by 2011.
• In 2012, the Kyoto Agreement in its current form will expire.
• NASA will launch the James Webb Space Telescope as early as 2013.
• The IPCC Fifth Assessment Report is scheduled to appear in 2014.
• The Orion is set to replace the Space Shuttle around 2014 or 2015. This is expected to follow a period of several years beginning with the scheduled retirement of the space shuttle program in 2010 in which NASA will not have an active manned spacecraft launch program.
• Both the International Linear Collider and ITER may be completed during the latter half of the decade.
• The Gotthard Base Tunnel, then the world's longest railway tunnel, will be completed in 2017 or 2018.
• Supercomputers are projected to reach exaflop scale in 2019.
• With the Altair spacecraft, NASA plans another series of manned landings on the moon beginning in 2019.

Sporting events

• 2010 African Cup of Nations to be held in Angola
• 2010 FIFA World Cup to be held in South Africa
• 2010 Commonwealth Games to be held in New Delhi, India
• 2010 Summer Youth Olympics to be held in Singapore
• 2010 Winter Olympics to be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
• 2011 Cricket World Cup to be held in the India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka
• 2011 Rugby World Cup to be held in New Zealand
• 2012 Summer Olympics to be held in London, England, United Kingdom
• 2012 Winter Youth Olympics to be held in Innsbruck, Austria
• 2012 UEFA European Football Championship to be held in Poland and Ukraine
• 2013 Rugby League World Cup to be held in England
• 2014 FIFA World Cup to be held in Brazil
• 2014 Winter Olympics to be held in Sochi, Russia
• 2014 Summer Youth Olympics scheduled, location to be announced in 2010
• 2014 Commonwealth Games to be held in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
• 2015 Cricket World Cup to be held in Australia and New Zealand
• 2015 Rugby World Cup to be held in England, United Kingdom
• 2016 UEFA European Football Championship scheduled, location to be announced in 2011
• 2016 Summer Olympics to be held in Rio de Janerio, Brazil
• 2016 Winter Youth Olympics scheduled, location to be announced in 2010
• 2018 FIFA World Cup scheduled, location to be announced in 2010
• 2018 Winter Olympics scheduled, location to be announced in 2011
• 2018 Summer Youth Olympics scheduled, location to be announced.
• 2019 Cricket World Cup to be held in England
• 2019 Rugby World Cup to be held in Japan.

Fictional references

• The Arthur C. Clarke novel 2010: Odyssey Two and its film adaptation 2010 are set in 2010.
• The film Terminator Salvation takes place in 2018.
• The film Blade Runner takes place in November of 2019.
• The anime film Akira takes place in 2019.
• The anime television series Neon Genesis Evangelion takes place in 2015, with the climax of the series ending in 2016.
• The game Dino Crisis II takes place in 2010.
• Season one of Dark Angel takes place in 2019.
• Wednesday, October 21, 2015 4:29 PM PDT—Date and time when Marty McFly and Doc Brown arrive from October 26, 1985 via a De Lorean DMC-12 time machine, in Back to the Future Part II (1989). This film depicted the advent of flying cars, self-fitting clothes and the Mattel hover board.
• Season one of SeaQuest DSV takes place in 2018–2019.
• The Max Brooks zombie novel World War Z is set in the 2010s.
• The game Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is set in 2014.
• The game S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl takes place in 2012 and its prequel S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is in 2011.
• Most of the .hack video games and anime series takes place throughout the 2010s.
• The game Persona 4 is set in 2011–2012.
• The 1987 film The Running Man starring Arnold Schwarzenegger is set in 2017-2019.
• The film Escape from LA is set in 2013.
• The games Trauma Center: Under the Knife and Trauma Center: Second Opinion are set in the year 2018.
• The game Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is set in 2011, and its sequel, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, is set in 2016.
• The movie I Am Legend is set in 2012.
• The movie 2012 is set in 2012.
• The movie The Island takes place in 2019.

Other events

• According to Mayanists, the year 2012 will be the end of this current b'ak'tun (according to the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, interpreted by many to mean the end of the world. This is dubbed the 2012 phenomenon.

See also

• 2010s in film
• 2010s in video games
• 2010 in music
• 2012
• 2012 in fiction