This year has brought a wave of catastrophes - a global pandemic, economies teetering on the brink of collapse, temperatures rising and countries languishing in drought - and one expert says the tragedies will keep coming.
Nobel Peace Prize winner David Beasley says the world is creeping ever-closer to a "hunger pandemic" which will bring "famines of biblical proportions" in 2021.
Beasely is the director of the World Food Programme and told AP News that refugee camps are overflowing as farmers leave their farms behind due to drought or torrential rain.
"It's getting worse out there, and our hardest work is yet to come," he is quoted as saying.
He says it's crucial that world leaders take action on the "tragedy" they are facing.
COVID-19 has decimated the funds of many Governments, he says - and he believes many don't have the reserves for a second shot.
"2021 is going to be a very bad year," Beasley says. "You're not going to have enough money to fund all the projects you historically fund. Right now, we really need to focus on icebergs, and icebergs are famine, starvation, destabilisation and migration."
He says more than 30 countries are on the brink of famine - Yemen, South Sudan, Nigeria and Burkina Faso have already tipped into famine conditions, according to the World Food Programme.
Many others such as Afghanistan, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Haiti, Mozambique and Syria aren't far behind.
Beasley says one of the last bastions of hope are billionaires. He hopes some of the world's most wealthy will step up to help those who need it with donations for things like global school lunch programmes.
He says $15 billion would allow the Programme to avert famine and provide lunches for malnourished children.
"If I could get that coupled with our normal money, then we avert famine around the world."
