In 2016, the clock was at three minutes before midnight as a result of the Iran nuclear agreement and the Paris climate accord. In 1991, the clock was set to the furthest from midnight – 17 minutes – after the Cold War was officially declared over, according to the Washington Post. At the time, the clock symbol was designed as an analogy for the threat of nuclear war, spurred by the Cold War arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union. In 1947, with the first Doomsday Clock, the time was set to 7 minutes to midnight. “And as we move the clock closer to midnight, we are sending a message that the situation is becoming more urgent.” Rachel Bronson, president, and chief executive of the bulletin. “The point of the clock is to assess where humanity is, and whether we are safer or at greater risk,” said Dr. The first clock was unveiled in 1947, according to CNBC News. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was founded in 1945 by the late physicist and Nobel laureate Albert Einstein, as well as scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project to build the first atomic bomb. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced Tuesday that it has moved its metaphorical Doomsday Clock closer than ever to midnight, the hypothetical hour of Armageddon, reflecting experts’ assessment that humanity is confronting unprecedented threats to its existence. The world is now 90 seconds away from “midnight,” according to the Doomsday Clock, the closest mankind has ever been to Armageddon. Source - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, press release The new Clock time was also influenced by continuing threats posed by the climate crisis and the breakdown of global norms and institutions needed to mitigate risks associated with advancing technologies and biological threats such as COVID-19. Tuesday's announcement was the first since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, although the panel issued a warning during its last "Doomsday Clock" news conference that Ukraine was a potential flashpoint in an increasingly tense international security environment.The Doomsday Clock was set at 90 seconds to midnight, due largely but not exclusively to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the increased risk of nuclear escalation. "It is a metaphor, a reminder of the perils we must address if we are to survive on the planet," the Bulletin, which created the clock, said on its website, also calling it "a design that warns the public about how close we are to destroying our world with dangerous technologies of our own making." "The continuing stream of disinformation about bio weapons laboratories in Ukraine raises concerns that Russia itself maybe thinking of deploying such weapons."įor the past 75 years, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a nonprofit media organization comprised of world leaders and Nobel laureates, has announced how close it believes the world is to collapse due to nuclear war, climate change and, most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. The additional concern of Russia's "false accusation" that Ukraine is planning to use radiological dispersal devices, chemical and biological weapons "take on new meaning," she added. "The war's effects also undermine global efforts to combat climate change as countries dependent on Russian oil and gas have expanded investment in natural gas," Bronson said. Secretary General António Guterres warned in August that the "world has entered a time of nuclear danger not seen since the height of the Cold War." "The possibilities that the conflict can spin out of anyone's control remains high."īronson noted that U.N. "Russia's thinly veiled threats to use nuclear weapons remind the world that escalation of the conflict by accident, intention or calculation is a terrible risk," said Rachel Bronson, president and CEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Scientists revealed on Tuesday that the "Doomsday Clock" has been moved up to 90 seconds before midnight - the closest humanity has ever been to armageddon.īulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the metaphorical clock up 10 seconds from where it had stayed for the past two years, citing the escalation in Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022.
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