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According to researchers, the symbolic doomsday clock has never been as advanced as it is now.
The so-called doomsday clock, which researchers use to draw attention to the dangers to humanity, has advanced to 90 seconds before midnight because of the Ukraine war – as far as never before.
Compared to the previous year, the symbolic clock was ten seconds closer to midnight, as the organization “Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists” announced on Tuesday. The scientists justified this primarily with “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the increased risk of a nuclear escalation”.
“Russia’s thinly veiled threats to use nuclear weapons are a reminder to the world that escalation of the conflict – by accident, by design or miscalculation – is a terrible risk,” the organization said. “The possibility that the conflict could spiral out of control remains high.”
The climate crisis also plays a role
The organization also points to “persistent threats from the climate crisis” and a “collapse of global norms and institutions needed to mitigate risks related to advancing technologies and biological threats such as Covid-19”.
“We live in a time of unprecedented peril, and the doomsday clock reflects that reality,” said Bulletin editor Rachel Bronson. The experts would not have taken the decision lightly to bring the clock hands closer to midnight than ever before.
Referring to the Ukraine war, Bronson said the US government, its NATO allies and Ukraine had “numerous channels for dialogue.” Those responsible would have to use all these channels “to turn back the clock”.
In 2020 the clock was 100 seconds to midnight
The Doomsday Clock had advanced to 100 seconds before midnight in 2020, closer to midnight than ever before. In the following two years the clock remained unchanged.
The decision as to what time the hands of the doomsday clock are set to each year is made by board members of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists – an organization that publishes a scientific journal of the same name founded in 1945 by physicist Albert Einstein and scientists from the University of Chicago had been.
In 1947, the year it was founded, the clock was set at seven minutes to midnight. After the end of the Cold War, researchers set the hands to the farthest time before midnight: 11:43 p.m., which is 17 minutes to midnight.
(AFP)
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