Doomsday Clock Moves Closer to Midnight As Nuclear Threat Increases

Scientists just moved the hands of the symbolic “Doomsday Clock,” making it closer to midnight on Thursday. This was amid the increasing tension over nuclear weapons and climate change.

The clock now appears to be two minutes to midnight. According to the Science and Security Board, the decision was made after “the extraordinary danger of the current moment.” The clock sits at 30 seconds closer to catastrophe.

Rachel Bronson, the president of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, explained:

This is the closest the Clock has ever been to Doomsday, and as close as it was in 1953, at the height of the Cold War.

For those of you who did not know, the Doomsday Clock basically represents the possibility of a man-made global catastrophe. It symbolizes the hypothetical global catastrophe as “midnight” as well as the Bulletin’s opinion on how close the planet is to the feared global event.

Each year, the Bulletin, which is a non-profit group responsible for setting the clock, decides whether the ongoing events of the previous year are capable of bringing humanity closer – or farther – to destruction.

It is worth noting that in 1953, it was set at two minutes until midnight when the infamous hydrogen bomb was first tested. And now, it has reached the closest mark since the said year.

We've made the clear statement that we feel the world is getting more dangerous. The danger of nuclear conflagration is not the only reason the clock has been moved forward.

The announcement was made in Washington, DC, at the National Press Club. Scientists saw the ongoing threats, ranging from deadly political rhetoric to a potential nuclear threat, as the catalyst for moving the clock closer towards Doomsday.

As per the statement explaining the resetting of the time, it says:

In 2017, world leaders failed to respond effectively to the looming threats of nuclear war and climate change, making the world security situation more dangerous than it was a year ago — and as dangerous as it has been since World War II.

The greatest risks last year arose in the nuclear realm. North Korea’s nuclear weapons program appeared to make remarkable progress in 2017, increasing risks for itself, other countries in the region, and the United States.

The statement continued:

Hyperbolic rhetoric and provocative actions on both sides have increased the possibility of nuclear war by accident or miscalculation.

Scientists said that today’s Doomsday Clock announcement would serve “as an urgent wakeup call” and that it could be “the last one we get.”

The clock was created in 1947 with the use of apocalypse imagery (midnight) and the contemporary idiom of nuclear explosion (countdown to zero). This entirely conveys all the threats to humanity and the planet.