2040

EVENTS: ASTRONOMICAL EVENTS:
 * The United Kingdom and France plan to ban the sale of all new diesel and petrol cars by this year.[1]
 * Japan will have shut down the last of its nuclear power plants.[2]
 * The Antarctic treaty will come under review.
 * The United States Air Force will start an at least partial phase-out of their B-52 bombers, which by 2040 will have served 85 years of combat.[citation needed]
 * Projected completion date for the Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T) rail corridor running from Germany to southern Italy.[3]
 * Amsterdam aims to be fossil fuel-free, powering its electric cars, trucks, boats, and buildings with energy generated by wind, solar, and biomass.[4]
 * Completion of the Northeast Corridor high-speed rail route, running from Boston to Washington, D.C.


 * May 11 – Partial solar eclipse.
 * September 8 – Planetary alignment of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and the crescent Moon.[7]
 * November 4 – Partial solar eclipse.
 * The Great Red Spot on Jupiter's atmosphere will become circular according to calculations based on its reduction rate at present.[citation needed]

OTHER PREDICTIONS:


 * Global energy consumption will have increased by 56 percent from 2010, from 524 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) to 820 quadrillion Btu.[8]
 * NASA predicts that by this year it will cost only tens of dollars per pound to launch humans or cargo into space.[9]
 * Space-based solar power will be commercially viable.[10]
 * Pollen counts will be more than double today's level, due to climate change.