2020 HEADLINES Jared and Neeve
JANUARY
- United Kingdom formally withdraws from the European Union (Brexit). The United Kingdom left the EU on the 31 January. This ends a 47-year saga of relations from when Edward Heath, leader of the Conservative Party signed the Treaty of Accession to join. There were four years of intense negotiations spanning three prime ministers, David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson. One of the major consequences of Brexit is the impact on trade. EU membership reduces trade costs and tariffs making it cheaper for the UK to consume goods and services and also allows businesses to export more. In terms of immigration, a significant topic during the referendum, a new system will be implemented. The system means that everyone who enters the UK will be subject to the UK’s immigration requirements. This contrasts with when the UK were in the EU and there was freedom of movement from countries in the EU to the UK.
FEBRUARY
More than 30 bushfires put out by heaviest rainfall for 30 years in New South Wales, Australia, helping end one of the worst bushfire seasons ever, 46 million acres burnt, over one billion animalskilled, 34 people dead. After record breaking temperatures and severe drought in Australia, massive bushfires took hold in New South Wales and Victoria. At least 33 people were killed including four firefighters and over 11 million hectares of bush and forest were burned. Australians were hugely affected with the fires destroying over 2000 homes causing major relocation. Even after the majority of the fires were put out, the smoke became a major hazard meaning Canberra saw some of the worst smoke pollution with the air quality rate the third worst of all major global cities. The smoke didn’t stay in Australia and travelled nearly 7000 miles across the Pacific Ocean to South America. The smoke also creates its own climate in its area of effect creating clouds called pyrocumulonimbus which can lead to thunderstorms, lightning and downbursts.
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MARCH
African American Breonna Taylor shot and killed by police officers executing a no-knock warrant on her flat with a battering ram in Louisville, Kentucky. The death of Breonna Taylor sparked protests around the world to demand that the officers involved where criminally charged since they had not been previously. A combination of this killing as well as the George Floyd incident in May where shocking footage revealed the killing of an African American man by a policeman led to the worldwide knowledge and support of Black Lives Matter (BLM). Brett Hankinson, killer of Breonna Taylor, has since been charged with ‘wanton endangerment’ instead of murder whilst the other two officers have not been charged. This murder was the start of a huge change in societal understanding and learning about the prejudice towards black people in America and globally.
