The Doomsday Clock is 90 seconds from midnight, the time of the end of the world

The Doomsday Clock, which symbolically measures the end of the world, marked this Tuesday that humanity has never been so close to a planetary cataclysm due to the war in Ukrainenuclear tensions and the climate crisis.

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, which describes the clock as a “metaphor for how close humanity is to self-annihilation,” moved the 100 second hands to 90 seconds to midnight.

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Each year, the Bulletin’s science and safety board and its patrons, which include 11 Nobel laureates, make the decision to reposition the hands of this symbolic clock.

One notice after another

Until now, the closest it has gotten to midnight, the fateful hour they hope will never come, has been 100 seconds. It was for two years from January 2020.

But things have gotten worse. In a statement, the Bulletin states that this year the hands are moving forward “due in large part, but not exclusively, to the iRussian invasion of Ukraine and to increased risk of nuclear escalation.

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Also weighing “the continuing threats posed by the climate crisis and the collapse of global norms and institutions necessary to mitigate the risks associated with advancing technologies and biological threats such as covid-19,” he added.

“We live in a time of unprecedented danger, and the Doomsday Clock reflects that reality.” said Rachel Bronson, president and CEO of the Bulletin.

“90 seconds to midnight is as close to midnight as the clock has been set, And it’s a decision our experts don’t take lightly,” Bronson insisted.

“The US government, its NATO allies and Ukraine have a multitude of channels for dialogue,” he said. “We urge leaders to explore all of them to their fullest capacity to turn back the clock.”

very fed up

Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also called on world leaders to take action in a world made more dangerous by Covid-19, extreme weather events and Russia’s “heinous war against Ukraine”. .

“The leaders did not heed the warnings of the Doomsday Clock in 2020,” Ban said. “We all continue to pay the price. In 2023 it is vital for the good of all that they act”.

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, also highlighted the change in the hands of the clock. In a statement, its chief executive, Beatrice Fihn, said they are “fed up” with no action being taken after the clock warnings.

“The leaders of the nuclear weapon states must urgently negotiate nuclear disarmament, and the G7 meeting in Hiroshima in May 2023 is the perfect place to outline that plan,” Fihn estimated.

In its beginnings, in 1947, after World War II, it was seven minutes to midnight. The clock reached 17 minutes to doomsday after the Cold War in 1991.

The Bulletin was founded in 1945 by Albert Einstein, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and other scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project that produced the first nuclear weapons.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.