Staff Editorial
Zika. Brexit. Trump.
This was definitely a bad year.
No one could have predicted the events that transpired over the course of these past 12 months. The year seemed promising as the election was near. But quickly Americans realized the possibility of a Trump presidency, filling their hearts with despair.
The world was saddened after hearing about the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. Omar Mateen, who swore his allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISIS), stormed a gay nightclub shooting and killing 50 innocent people in Orlando. This was also the deadliest attack in the U.S. since the Sept. 11 attacks.
Hurricane Matthew made a widespread journey of destruction and catastrophic loss of life through the Western Atlantic. Over 1,600 deaths have been attributed to the hurricane, making it the deadliest in the Atlantic since Hurricane Stan in 2005. Matthew was also the first Category 5 hurricane since Hurricane Felix in 2007.
In one week, six trillion gallons of rain poured on Louisiana in early August. The catastrophic flood is now the worst natural disaster to strike the United States since Hurricane Sandy four years ago.
An estimated 146,000 homes were damaged in the flood, forcing thousands of people to shelter. The cost of the damage has reached upwards of $15 billion.
The Zika virus spread across the Americas in January forcing the World Health Organization (WHO) to call it a global emergency. Brazil was hit the hardest with a total of 1.5 million people infected by the virus. During the Rio Olympics, health officials worldwide voiced their opinions over a potential crisis.
Zika terrified people all around the world, forcing canceled flights to the Americas to avoid the disease. The WHO quickly took charge of the problem and as of November declared the Zika virus no longer an emergency.
ISIS continued its global terror with attacks in Brussels and Baghdad. The worst of these attacks took place in Nice, when a cargo truck was deliberately driven into crowds celebrating Bastille Day. This attack resulted in the death of 86 people and injured 434 people.
Brexit rocked the world in June, when the United Kingdom withdrew from the European Union (EU) following a referendum in which 52 percent of voters voted for it.
For the United Kingdom to leave the EU it has to invoke an agreement called Article 50 which gives the two sides two years to agree to the terms of the split. Prime Minister Theresa May has said she intends to trigger this process by the end of March 2017. The United Kingdom will be expected to have left by the summer of 2019.
This past month tragedy struck in Brazil when a plane carrying players from the Brazilian soccer club Chapecoense crashed, killing all but six of the 77 on board. Chapecoense was currently on their way to the final of the Copa Sudamericana tournament near Medellin, Colombia. Evidently, the plane ran out of fuel resulting in the crash.
Chapecoense was awarded champions of the tournament and will be given $2 million in prize money.
Two-time world player of the year Ronaldinho is open to joining to help the team.
In addition, some of Brazil’s top clubs said they wanted to give players a free loan to Chape.
The year 2016 might not have been a good one.
But 2017 can’t be that bad with Trump in the House, right?
