Nice job keeping your perspective, Andy: Guardian's Beckett asks "Has there ever been an era so bleak?"

The news is terrible. Is the world really doomed? | Culture | The Guardian

The economy's bust, the climate's on the brink and even the arts are full of gloom. Has there ever been an era so bleak?

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The same month, Ian Jack wrote: "Build a bunker with a vegetable plot on some high ground and leave it to your grandchildren: dangerous levels of climate change now look all but inevitable."

Black Death - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Black Death is estimated to have killed 30–60 percent of Europe's population,^[1] reducing world population from an estimated 450 million to between 350 and 375 million in the 14th century. The aftermath of the plague created a series of religious, social and economic upheavals, which had profound effects on the course of European history. It took 150 years for Europe's population to recover. The plague returned at various times, killing more people, until it left Europe in the 19th century.