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.
The "Doomsday Clock," created by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists to illustrate how close humanity has come to the end of the world, moved its "time" in 2023 to 90 seconds to midnight, 10 seconds closer than it has been for the past three years. Midnight on this clock marks the theoretical point of annihilation.
The Clock now stands at 90 seconds to midnight—the closest to global catastrophe it has ever been.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set its Doomsday Clock at 90 seconds to midnight, the closest to midnight the clock has been since it was established in 1947 to illustrate global existential threats at the dawn of the nuclear weapons age.
The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic timepiece showing how close the world is to ending. Midnight marks the theoretical point of annihilation. Apocalyptic threats could arise from political tensions, weapons, technology, climate change or pandemic illness.
Martyl set the original Clock at seven minutes to midnight because, she said, “it looked good to my eye.” In the early days, Bulletin Editor Eugene Rabinowitch decided whether the hand should be moved.
For 2021 and 2022, the clock's hands were set at 100 seconds to midnight. Since this time-keeping exercise began in 1947, the announcement on Jan. 24, 2023 represents the closest the clock has ever been to midnight — a clear wake-up call.
Is nuclear war likely? No. No matter the chances of nuclear war breaking out between the United States and Russia, there's a “0.0% chance” that Russia would survive the attack, according to Schwartz. This makes the actual possibility of nuclear war look pretty slim, no matter what Putin says.
In 1991, the clock had its furthest time from catastrophe when it was set to 17 minutes to midnight as the Cold War cooled down. The clock's hands most recently inched close to disaster in 2020, at 100 seconds to midnight, due to geopolitical tensions and climate crises.
The farthest away the clock hands have ever been was right after the end of the Cold War - at 17 minutes from midnight. Rachel Bronson, CEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, said though humans created these problems, the board also believes humans can reduce the risks with global engagement.
The "100 seconds to midnight" setting remained unchanged in 2021 and 2022. On January 24, 2023, the Clock was moved to 90 seconds (1 minute, 30 seconds) before midnight, meaning that the Clock's current setting is the closest it has ever been to midnight since its inception in 1947.
But it may be helpful to remember, Wellerstein adds, that the Doomsday Clock is not a scientific instrument or even an institution. It's a metaphor and a communication tool. One reasonable measure of success might simply be whether people talk about it when the time changes, and the issues behind that change.
Those who look directly at the blast could experience eye damage ranging from temporary blindness to severe burns on the retina. Individuals near the blast site would be exposed to high levels of radiation and could develop symptoms of radiation sickness (called acute radiation syndrome, or ARS).
In other words, Doomsday is always the last day of February. In normal years, Doomsday is February 28th, and in leap years, Doomsday is February 29th. In 2023, which is not a leap year, the last day of February is Tuesday the 28th.
How close is humanity to destruction? Not very far, according to the Doomsday Clock, which has been metaphorically ticking since 1947. Its hands now sit at 90 seconds to midnight—closer than they've ever been.
Two years later, in 1947, artist and Bulletin member Martyl Langsdorf created the iconic Doomsday Clock to signal how close humanity was to self-destruction. Today, the Doomsday Clock is located at the Bulletin offices in the Keller Center, home to the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy.
The Doomsday Clock was created in 1947 by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists to convey how close humanity is to destroying itself.
The Doomsday Clock was set to 90 seconds to midnight on Tuesday. That sounds pretty dire, but what does it mean? It goes back to the Atomic Age. … was the primary author of 1945's Franck Report, which advocated against using atomic weapons during WWII.
A number of other issues played a role in moving the Doomsday Clock forward, the Bulletin said, including the effects of climate change, “unabated” disinformation online and an ongoing threat of infectious disease outbreaks.
Scientists have recently revealed that Australia and New Zealand are best placed to survive a nuclear apocalypse and help reboot collapsed human civilisation. The study, published in the journal Risk Analysis. These countries include not just Australia and New Zealand, but also Iceland, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
Australia and New Zealand best placed to survive nuclear apocalypse, study finds. The lucky country can count on one more piece of good fortune, with researchers finding Australia – followed by neighbour New Zealand – best placed to survive a nuclear winter and help reboot a collapsed human civilisation.
Ragusa recommends rural parts of Texas, Florida and California (far from large population centres which might make attractive targets) as places to survive a nuclear exchange. He says: 'The reason why I picked these three states is because they are near water and have warm climates.
While in 1953, after the first detonation of a hydrogen bomb, the clock was set two minutes to midnight, and during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 at seven minutes to midnight, in 2020, it was set at a record 100 seconds to midnight – a record now once more broken due to the Ukraine crisis.
The clock hands are set by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a group formed by Manhattan Project scientists at the University of Chicago who helped build the atomic bomb but protested using it against people. The time of the clock is currently 90 seconds to midnight.