The Doomsday Clock stands at 90 seconds to midnight, according to analysts who anticipate the risk of a global disaster following the 2023 wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
There is a “continuing unprecedented level of risk”, scientists predicting the future of the planet said revealing the countdown- a metaphor for global collapse agreed on by experts at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. In 2023, the clock was set at 90 seconds to midnight which was the closest to global collapse it had ever been. Experts said that the change of 10 seconds was due to the “mounting dangers of the war in Ukraine”. Since 2020, the clock has been at 100 seconds to midnight.
The report stated that Russia’s “thinly veiled threats to use nuclear weapons” posed a “terrible risk” of conflict escalation. It also mentioned China, North Korea, Iran, and India’s intent on acquiring nuclear capabilities, as well as the climate crisis, bio-threats like COVID-19, disinformation, and disruptive technology.
In 2020, “two simultaneous existential dangers of nuclear war and climate change” were cited as reasons for the change.
What is the Doomsday Clock?
Experts from the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists devised the Doomsday Clock in 1947. The specialists had worked on the Manhattan Project to design and manufacture the first atomic weapon, and they created the clock to provide a simple means of demonstrating the threat to the Earth and humanity.