The Doomsday clock was invented in 1947, in attempts to gauge how close humanity is to annihilate the world. The clock has been ticking for 76 years, farther and closer to the “midnight” point which represents the moment humanity will no longer be able to inhibit this planet.
On Tuesday, the clock was set at 90 seconds until midnight which is the closest to midnight it has ever been, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. The clock was set and remained at 100 seconds to midnight from 2020 to 2022.
The bulletin stated that this decision to move the clock to 90 seconds largely comes from Russia’s invasion on Ukraine and the impact on the war on the increased risk of nuclear escalation. They stated in a news release that the threats posed by the climate crisis, and the breakdown of norms and institutions needed to reduce risk for biological threats such as Covid-19, also played a role.
According to the Bulletin, the doomsday clock was designed to spark conversations about difficult scientific topics such as climate change and not measure existential threats. Rachel Bronson, president and CEO of the Bulletin, said in the release, “We are living in a time of unprecedented danger, and the Doomsday Clock time reflects that reality.” She also said that the decision was not taken lightly and requested that “the US government, its NATO allies and Ukraine have a multitude of channels for dialogue; we urge leaders to explore all of them to their fullest ability to turn back the Clock.”
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