PHOTO: by Vecree on DeviantArt

We’ve bid adieu to 2014, but what’s next in the upcoming year? As 2015 kicks-off, a look at fifteen (get it? 15 for 2015? yeah, I’m funny) of the top stories that will demand the globe’s urgent attention in this year.

1. Republican-lead United States Congress (and of course the preparation for the 2016 Presidential Elections)

In 2014, voters gave the reins of the US Capital to Republicans with majorities in both the House and Senate. Congress, for the first time since 2006, is convening under full GOP control. And it’s already election time!? Politicians are beginning to gear up for the 2016 US Presidential campaign with potential candidates starting the journey to the White House. Immigration, jobs, Medicaid, and the wider economy are topics anticipated to be debated as the politicking gets rolling.

2. Mission to Pluto

Despite the questionable planetary status of Pluto (by the way, it totally is, I don’t care what some astronomers say), the New Horizons Mission’s probe is nearing its destination after a nine-year voyage covering over three billion miles of space to the outer reaches of our Solar System. NASA believes the probe will open up new observations of Pluto and neighboring interstellar objects. So keep an eye out for pretty awesome images.

3. Cuba

An end to the Cold War Era-or at least an end to the strange holdover of that era featuring the US and a nation that is 90 miles away- Washington and Havana renewed diplomatic relations in late 2014. ?Despite the trade embargo remaining in place, the Obama Administration will allow American companies to export building supplies, products for Cuban business owners who are self-empowered and inputs for private farmers. 2015 promises to offer further changes in relations and a lot of politicking on both sides about the good and the bad ideas of this move.

4. More Melting of Polar Ice Caps in the Arctic

Temperatures in the global far north are rising at double the rate of the rest of the planet. This has led to rising sea levels and habitat loss for arctic animals. All in all, a tragic story to watch, but one we need to keep an eye on for sure.

5. Conflict in Syria

Between the first round of the Geneva II peace talks in January 2014 and the Moscow peace talks schedule in January 2015, Syria has experienced the deadliest twelve months since the uprising turned civil war turned sectarian conflict turned…. total and utter chaos began four years ago. 2015 so far doesn’t look like there will be any improvement, but this conflict will definitely dominate world attention.

6. Boko Haram (you know the bad guys from #BringBackOurGirls)

Over 200 Nigerian schoolgirls are still missing after being kidnapped in 2014 by the militant extremist group Boko Haram. Throughout 2014, the extremist terrorist group continued a reign of terror across large swaths of Nigeria. The Nigerian government’s military strategy against the group arguably introduced a new wave of violence as the military cracked down on civilian groups and members of Boko Haram without discrimination. The questionable future of Nigeria’s military response to Boko Haram combined with a tense upcoming political election and falling oil prices (a major source of national revenue), mean Nigeria in 2015 could be even more unstable. And that is bad news in Africa’s most populous nation.

7. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

A crucial step forward for the entire world, the SDGs are the global development goals that will define the next 15 years of human development. Global poverty is on the decline as massive progress has been made in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (goals most of the world has prioritized since 2000). But the progress on the MDGs is not enough. So the world is replacing these goals with a new set of priorities for the next 15 years. World leaders will meet in September 2015 to discuss the Millenium Development Goals and post-2015 sustainable development planning (a complicated way of saying they will agree to the SDGs). The Sustainable Development Goals are expected to be adopted by UN Member States at the Special Summit on Sustainable Development, and begin working on these new promises as the MDGs expire at the end of 2015. With the support of countries, companies, and individuals, global poverty can be eradicated by 2030. But everyone must remain focused.

8. Climate Conference

For you environmentalists (and shouldn’t that be all of us? We do all have the breathe this air around us...but I digress), 2015 will be a landmark year in global climate change policy. Beginning in November, delegates  from over 200 countries will meet to decide on a  new global climate change agreement. Optimism is high after a watershed agreement between the United States and China (the world’s two largest carbon emitters) on emissions. Non-stop negotiating is expected between world leaders hoping to sign an agreement by the end of this year.

9. #BlackLivesMatter

Across the United States , protesters have taken to the streets against state violence and controversial rulings exonerating police officers in the deaths of Mike Brown and Eric Garner. Momentum in the movement is building as more individuals seek to repair race relations within the United States. Regardless of individual stance on the lack of indictments against the police in the killings of Brown and Garner, attention to violence and racial politics is sure to spark debate at dinner tables across the country this year.

10. Iran nuclear talks

Nuclear talks continue between Iran and the so called P5 1 (Germany and the UN Permanent Five members of the security council) with the intended resolution of a keeping Iran free of nuclear weapons. A key element of the talks is the relationship between the US and Iran. Diplomacy between the two nations remains tenuous, with the current US Congress critical of the Obama Administration's approach toward nuclear development in the Western Asian country.

11. Global struggle against ISIS

The battle against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) Syria continues to mount, with United States and western intervention halting the group’s progress across the Syrian peninsula. Despite these efforts, ISIS is gaining territory and even released governing budget projections for 2015. Further, The Islamic States’ influence has crept ?abroad, with fighters recruited from western nations including the US, France, England, and Canada. This new, terrorist group and self proclaimed nation state has been evolving in 2014, and the momentum of ISIS is expected to grow as its ideology spreads.

12. Increasing Water Shortages

Make it your mission to use tap water when available and don’t buy bottled water if possible! Water scarcity affects every continent and is a global epidemic that will continue to rise due to both natural and human-made phenomena. Despite there being enough freshwater on the earth for seven billion people, the resource is distributed unevenly and much is wasted or damaged through pollution and unsustainable activities. Oil and other natural resources have fueled conflict throughout human history, the concern we need to watch in the coming years is when water will cause wars.

13. Cheap Oil

Oil prices took a plunge in 2014 and continue to fall as 2015 has started. Though a good thing for our wallets, cheap oil has led companies to lay off workers and cutback on spending. Lower oil prices can mean happier consumers, but it can also lead to instability in autocratic or repressive oil states that no longer have the money from oil sales to fund public spending that helps keep their people in line. Thinking about the larger implications of oil is important. A challenge for 2015: reduce energy consumption!

14. Organized crime in Latin America

Murder rates are high in Latin America, as is extortion and trafficking. Complications in the region are only expected to increase in 2015, demanding increased global concern to help combat the rate of homicide within Latin American countries. Venezuela, Mexico, Bolivia, Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala, Peru, and El Salvador are currently particularly vulnerable to transnational crime.

15. The Ebola Epidemic

The Ebola epidemic continues to rage across Western Africa. UN officials expect the current outbreak to be defeated within 2015, but only with increased and sustained efforts to combat the virus that has killed over 8,000 people in the nations of Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia. 2015 may see the end of the outbreak, but a dominant element of this story that will last well beyond the outbreak is the impact on local and regional communities and health systems.

Kathleen Ebbitt