Contemporary
Copenhagen Climate Summit (2009): COP15 and Its Accord
No binding treaty was agreed; the conference merely 'took note' of the Copenhagen Accord, which set a 2 °C goal and promised climate finance for developing countries.
Region
Europe
Contemporary
Eurozone Crisis (2009–2015): Greece, Bailouts and Austerity
Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Cyprus received rescue loans in return for austerity and reforms; the euro survived, but Greece suffered a deep depression.
Contemporary
Eyjafjallajökull Eruption (2010): The Ash Cloud Over Europe
European airspace was largely closed for about six days, about 100,000 flights were cancelled, and aviation ash rules were rewritten.
Contemporary
Higgs Boson Discovery (2012) at CERN's Large Hadron Collider
Discovery of the Higgs boson confirmed the last missing particle of the Standard Model and led to the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics for Englert and Higgs.
Contemporary
Euromaidan (2013–2014): Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity
President Viktor Yanukovych fled Kyiv and was removed by parliament on 22 February 2014; early elections followed and Ukraine signed the EU Association Agreement.
Contemporary
Rosetta and Philae (2014): First Landing on a Comet
Philae became the first spacecraft to land on a comet, though it bounced into a shaded crevice, while the Rosetta orbiter studied the comet for more than two years.
Contemporary
Annexation of Crimea by Russia (2014): Events and Aftermath
Russia incorporated Crimea and Sevastopol as federal subjects; Ukraine and most UN member states do not recognise the annexation, and Western sanctions followed.
Contemporary
European Migrant Crisis (2015): Refugees and Europe's Response
Over a million people reached the EU in 2015; border fences, the closure of the Balkan route and the EU-Turkey Statement of March 2016 sharply reduced arrivals.
Contemporary
Brexit Referendum (2016): The UK Vote to Leave the European Union
Leave won with 51.9 per cent; David Cameron resigned, and the United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020.