Inching Closer To ¡®The End¡¯? 2021¡¯s ¡®Doomsday Clock¡¯ Ominously Stuck At 100 Seconds Away From Midnight
The hands of the ¡®Doomsday Clock¡¯, a visual depiction of how vulnerable the world is to a climate or nuclear catastrophe, remained at ¡®100 seconds to midnight¡¯ for the second consecutive year.
What is the Doomsday Clock?
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, founded by Albert Einstein and students from the University of Chicago in 1945, created the ¡®Doomsday Clock¡¯. Each year, the clock is set by the Bulletin¡¯s science and security board in consultation with its board of sponsors, which includes 13 Nobel laureates.
Twitter/@BulletinAtomic
Basically, the clock provides a metaphor for how close we are to a humanity-ending catastrophe.
According to Physicsworld, since the mid 2000s, the clock-setters have also been factoring in the risk of climate change, and more recently the threats of disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence.
Nuclear rick is rising as arms control treaties wither and die. Here¡¯s the world of nuclear arms, in one graphic. #DoomsdayClock https://t.co/V5ojW99q4e pic.twitter.com/DTvn0UJuf3
¡ª Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (@BulletinAtomic) January 28, 2021
The clock was originally set to seven minutes to midnight and has since moved closer or further away from the dreaded 12 o¡¯clock position. The farthest it has been is 17 minutes after the end of the Cold War in 1991.
"Events like the deadly assault earlier this month on the US Capitol renewed legitimate concerns about national leaders who have sole control of the use of nuclear weapons." ¡ª 2021 #DoomsdayClock statement from the Bulletin¡¯s Science & Security Board.https://t.co/zCJcIAfknE pic.twitter.com/XDZ8G6oCaw
¡ª Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (@BulletinAtomic) January 28, 2021
Why is the clock set at ¡®100 seconds from midnight¡¯?
¡°It is 100 seconds to midnight. We are now expressing how close the world is to catastrophe in seconds ¨C not hours, or even minutes. It is the closest to Doomsday we have ever been in the history of the Doomsday Clock. We now face a true emergency ¨C an absolutely unacceptable state of world affairs that has eliminated any margin for error or further delay,¡± Rachel Bronson, president and CEO of the Bulletin, said in a statement.
"The hands of the Doomsday Clock remain at 100 seconds to midnight, as close to midnight as ever," Rachel Bronson, president of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, said in a statement. Bronson called out the lack of faith in in science and overall lack of preparedness for the coronavirus pandemic.
Also Read: Doomsday Glacier As Big As UK May Melt Faster In Antarctica, Flood World's Coasts
¡°In this time of genuine crisis, governments too often abdicated responsibility, ignored scientific advice...and consequently failed to protect the health and welfare of their citizens,¡± ¡ª 2021 #DoomsdayClock statement https://t.co/zCJcIAfknE pic.twitter.com/9MXyBkFcPF
¡ª Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (@BulletinAtomic) January 29, 2021
Last year, the clock moved to 100 seconds from two minutes to midnight, in what was being seen as a pessimistic push.
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One of the major reasons the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set the ¡®Doomsday Clock¡¯ to ¡®100 seconds to midnight¡¯ this year was due to the debilitating impact of the coronavirus pandemic. ¡°The pandemic revealed just how unprepared and unwilling countries and the international system are to handle global emergencies properly,¡± the organisation said in a statement.
The COVID-19 pandemic has spawned what the @WHO has called an ¡°infodemic¡± of mis- & disinformation. Here, the designers from @pentagram illustrate the dysfunction. See the full
¡ª Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (@BulletinAtomic) January 29, 2021
graphic here: https://t.co/fUu5cBqo8o#DoomsdayClock pic.twitter.com/bmTS0CiPTW
"The lethal and fear-inspiring COVID-19 pandemic serves as a historic wake-up call, a vivid illustration that national governments and International organizations are unprepared to manage the truly civilization-ending threats of nuclear weapons and climate change,¡± says Rachel Bronson, president and CEO of the Bulletin.
Scientists at the Bulletin also said that while the pandemic was a tragedy, it was not an existential threat and could not ¡°obliterate civilisation¡±.