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- Chloe Kim
- From BBC News in Washington
‘Doomsday Clock’: Is the world closer than ever to the end?
The Doomsday Clock, an initiative that aims to alert humanity to the greatest dangers that exist, is even closer to midnight, which would leave the world close to catastrophe.
The clock is showing 90 seconds to midnight.
The non-profit Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS), which runs the clock, said the change was made largely because of the war in Ukraine.
The idea of the clock began in 1947 to warn humanity about the dangers of nuclear war.
The hands of the clock move towards or away from midnight based on scientists’ reading of existential threats at any given time. Midnight marks the theoretical point at which humanity would become extinct.
The decision is made by the BAS Science and Safety Council, which includes 13 Nobel Prize winners. This year, the ad was available in Ukrainian and Russian, in addition to English, due to the war in Ukraine.
Credit, Getty Images
Scientists warn of war, climate change, biological threats and disruptive technologies.
The council said the war raised deep questions about how nations interact and showed an apparent decay in international conduct.
“Russia’s thinly-veiled threats to use nuclear weapons are a reminder to the world that escalating conflict – whether by accident, intent or miscalculation – is a terrible risk,” the statement said.
In this year’s newsletter, they also cite climate change, biological threats and disruptive technologies.
“The effects of war are not confined to just an increased nuclear danger; they also undermine global efforts to combat climate change,” the statement said.
Countries dependent on Russian oil and gas have already looked to other suppliers of natural gas.
The council says world leaders will need to continue to identify biological hazards — whether natural, accidental or intentional in origin — as the world continues to suffer from the fallout from Covid.
A pandemic, the council states, is no longer a rare risk.
In 2020, the clock hands had been moved closer to midnight by 100 seconds. In the following years, in 2021 and 2022, the clock hands stayed in the same place.
The furthest the hands of the clock have ever been was just after the end of the Cold War—at 17 minutes to midnight.
Rachel Bronson, CEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, said that while humans create the threats that can lead to extinction, humans themselves can reduce the risks by engaging in solutions.
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