The end of the world? It’s fine

Image via meme-arsenal.com, based on KC Green’s “On Fire.”

You may have seen the following story:

Authorities in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia are on high alert after a suspected case of bubonic plague, the disease that caused the Black Death pandemic, was reported Sunday.

Just more 2020, right? We’re barely midway through the year, and we’ve already suffered through the following:

• COVID-19. The coronavirus pandemic has infected more than 11 million people worldwide and caused 535,000 deaths — almost one-quarter of those in the United States. In March and April, it essentially shut down the world economy, with unemployment spiking to double-digit percentages in many countries; shuttered sports leagues, travel and entertainment; and forced people to stay home. Recent loosening of lockdowns means we could be headed for another spike (some places are already there) — and more business closings. And we haven’t even gotten to the new school year yet.
• Locusts. The classic biblical plague has emerged with a vengeance this year, especially in eastern Africa. At least nobody has suggested sacrificing their first-born … yet.
• An asteroid. Several asteroids flew by Earth in June. Most of them were more than a million miles away and nothing to be concerned about. However, one actually passed between the orbits of the Earth and moon on June 5, just 190,000 miles away. It was described as football field-sized, could have crushed a city, and wasn’t one of the asteroids being tracked by space authorities. In fact, they didn’t know about it until it had passed.
• Murder hornets. These insects got a lot of attention when The New York Times gave a story about them prominent play in early May. Apparently they’re more of a risk to bees than they are to humans, and at that they’re less of a risk than climate change and pesticides, but did we really need to know they exist at all?

I’m sure I’m missing something — did I mention the brain-eating amoeba in Florida? — but that’s quite enough for six months, isn’t it?

Oh, and there’s an election campaign, too. Talk about carnage! Even Kanye West has thrown his hat into the ring!

Sometimes I just want to go to sleep and wake up in 2021. Perhaps this is all a dream, right?