Claims that Google plans to sunset Gmail were a hoax, so there's no need to panic
Google confirms Gmail is “here to stay” amid speculation over plans to scrap the email service::Claims that Google plans to sunset Gmail were a hoax, so there's no need to panic
I messed up my data partition ONCE on a windows upgrade with the most recent backup being over a year old, and I still beat myself up over it.... The only time I actually ever paid a professional data recovery service for private purposes.
Nothing you can do. This is the implicit (and sometimes explicit) contract we have with cloud services, that they'll keep our data safe and keep the lights on forever. If you think about it, though, unless you're paying for it this is untenable. A single user, when paying with their attention, will only ever generate a fairly fixed amount monthly. And yet the cost of keeping them on as a user grows steadily over time as more data is accumulated.
I would recommend getting a Google Takeout export every year or so. Even before it falls off a cliff it's a good idea to have your own backups. Accounts can get blocked, hacked, etc.