2024 has only begun and in the last three months there have been several natural calamities including earthquakes and a possible H5N1 bird flu outbreak which could be 100 times worse than covid19. What’s shocking that these incidents are very similar to the year 2020. Take a look at the freaky similarities…
New Delhi: Each year begins with people setting resolutions and wishing that it brings the best for everyone. The year 2024 has just begun and three months in, different places across the world have been hit by several natural calamities including forest fires, earthquakes and flashfloods. Experts are also predicting cyclones and a possible H5N1 Bird Flu outbreak which could be ‘100 times worse than Covid19’. All this is being discussed because just how 2024 is a leap year and there have been so many natural disasters, it looks like this year has followed the footsteps of the last leap year, 2020. Here are some freaky similarities between the years 2020 and 2024…
2020 vs 2024: Bushfires And Forest Fires
The Bushfires in Australia began in the end of 2019, these continued till March, 2020 in New South Wales. One of the worst for the country on record, it burnt more than 13 million acres and killed at least 33 people. The smoke that followed, killed at least 445 people. In 2024, during the first week of February, temperatures in Chile exceeded 95-100 degree Fahrenheit and resulted in a deadly forest fire in the Valparaiso region, especially the beach city of Vina del Mar which was home to 3,00,000 people. These were the deadliest, most devastating forest fires in the history of Chile.
2020 vs 2024: Cyclones, Flash Floods And Typhoons
The year 2020 saw multiple cyclones and typhoons across the world – flash floods killed more than 150 people in Afghanistan in August 2020, Cyclone Amphan killed more than 85 people in Bangladesh and India in May 2020, Hurricane Laura in Louisiana and Texas and Haiti killed 77 people in August 2020. flash floods in Indonesia in January killed 66 people and the typhoon in Philippines in November killed 42. While thankfully, no cyclones have been reported as of now in 2024, but according to weather forecasters at the Colorado State University have predicted an ‘extremely active’ Atlantic hurricane season for 2024.
2020 vs 2024: Volcanic Eruptions
A volcanic eruption took place in Philippines in January, 2020 and it killed 39 people. Speaking of 2024, in the last three months, in Iceland, there have been four volcanic eruptions and hundreds of visitors were evacuated. The authorities at Iceland have said that this is not a tourist attraction and must only be watched from a distance. A tour guide also said that it may be possible for the town close by to end up under the lava.
2020 vs 2024: Pandemic
The biggest and most scariest possible similarity between 2020 and 2024 may be the spread of a pandemic. While 2020 had Covid19 or the Corona Virus which nobody can forget; a global pandemic as declared by the World Health Organisation (WHO), killed lakhs of people across the world and is probably one of the scariest times seen by the people. Unfortunately, this year too, experts are predicting that it is quite possible that the H5N1 Bird Flu outbreak may become a pandemic and in terms of spreading, it may be 100 times worse than Covid19.