The clock's original setting in 1947 was seven minutes to midnight. It has since been set backward eight times and forward 17 times for a total of 25. The farthest time from midnight was 17 minutes in 1991, and the nearest is 90 seconds, set on January 24, 2023.
The Clock now stands at 90 seconds to midnight—the closest to global catastrophe it has ever been.
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24, history was again made when the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists' organization moved the seconds hand of the Doomsday Clock closer to midnight. It is now at '90 seconds to midnight,' the closest it has ever been to the symbolic midnight hour of global catastrophe.
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.
What is the “Doomsday Clock?” The “Doomsday Clock,” created in 1947, is an “international symbol of the world's vulnerability to catastrophe” as well as a countdown to when the “man-made threats to human existence” like nuclear weapons, the fossil fuel industry and technology, are likely to tip us over the edge.
2023 Doomsday Clock Announcement
The Clock now stands at 90 seconds to midnight—the closest to global catastrophe it has ever been.
So she sketched a clock to suggest that we didn't have much time left to get atomic weapons under control. Graphic designer Michael Bierut reimagined the iconic image in 2007. Martyl set the original Clock at seven minutes to midnight because, she said, “it looked good to my eye.”
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 is a symbol that represents how close we are to destroying the world with dangerous technologies of our own making. It warns how many metaphorical “minutes to midnight” humanity has left. Set every year by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, it is intended to warn the public and inspire action.
Midnight marks the theoretical point of annihilation. Apocalyptic threats could arise from political tensions, weapons, technology, climate change or pandemic illness. The hands of the clock are moved closer to or further away from midnight based on the scientists' reading of existential threats at a particular time.
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.
Over the past 76 years, the hands of the clock have moved both backward and forward, according to whether steps were taken to address potentially civilization-ending threats, including climate change and nuclear war. "This is the closest the Doomsday Clock has ever been to midnight," said University of Chicago Prof.
90 seconds to midnight is the closest the Clock has ever been set to midnight, and it's a decision our experts do not take lightly. The US government, its NATO allies and Ukraine have a multitude of channels for dialogue; we urge leaders to explore all of them to their fullest ability to turn back the Clock.”
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.
Doomsday Clock ticks in at 90 seconds to midnight
The adjustment, made in response to threats from nuclear weapons, climate change and infectious diseases such as Covid-19, is the closest the clock has been to symbolic doom since it was created more than 75 years ago.
The Doomsday Clock is located in the lobby of the Bulletin offices at the University of Chicago (1307 E. 60th St.), in the lobby.
History of the Doomsday Clock
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 created a stir when it was set to 100 seconds to midnight in 2020, the first time the famous clock had gone down to seconds rather than minutes. At the time, the Bulletin's scientists said we were "at doom's doorstep." It remained at 100 seconds to midnight in 2021 and 2022.
“The clock isn't really meant to say how risky a nuclear war is this year,” says Pierrehumbert. It's meant to be an assessment of the fundamental state of risks that could take decades to play out.
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.
Consider stocking up on non-perishable food items, bottled water, and emergency supplies such as blankets and first aid kits. Bug out bag has all the basic to survive for the first 72hrs of an apocalypse. A well-stocked survival kit can help you and your family survive in the event of a disaster or emergency.
1984: Three minutes from midnight
In 1984, the Bulletin warned that because of stalled communication between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, the world was a mere 180 seconds away from the proverbial end of days.
2 minutes to midnight. 1953. The Bulletin moved the clock the closest to midnight it had ever been—and the closest it would ever be in the 20th Century—after the U.S. and the Soviet Union detonated their first thermonuclear weapons. 2.5 minutes to midnight.
Cuban missile crisis, 1962 The standoff between the US and the Soviet Union brought the world to the brink, yet it was apparently a time of optimism compared with today – a few months later the clock was moved back from 7 to 12 minutes.