“Doomsday Clock” is closer to midnight than ever before

Scientists warn

“Doomsday Clock” closer to midnight than ever before

Scientists have been using the “Doomsday Clock” for years to assess how close they believe humanity is to the abyss. The current situation is causing them great concern.

In view of the unstable world situation, scientists have set the hands of the “Doomsday Clock” to 85 seconds before midnight for the first time, thereby warning of a global catastrophe. The researchers at the “Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists” in Washington said that the aggressive behavior of the nuclear powers Russia, China and the USA, the climate crisis, conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East and the possible effects of artificial intelligence were among the things of concern.

The United Nations also expressed concern. “It is necessary for all member states – especially those with nuclear power – to return to a path of nuclear disarmament to calm tensions,” Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for UN chief António Guterres, said in New York. “Then we can at least turn the doomsday clock back to 86.”

In recent years, the clock’s hands have moved closer and closer to midnight – from 100 seconds to 90 and then last year to 89. At 85 seconds, the hands are now closer to midnight than ever before in the history of the “Doomsday Clock”. According to the researchers, the risk of humanity being wiped out by a nuclear war or self-inflicted global warming is now greater than ever since the clock was invented in 1947. The symbolic status of the clock is communicated once a year.