Each year a group of top scientists updates the Doomsday Clock to see how close the world is to a man-made catastrophe.
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists established the Clock in 1947 and it has become a universally recognised symbol. It's an indicator of the world’s vulnerability to catastrophe from nuclear weapons, climate change, and disruptive technologies in other domains.
The time set on the clock is a metaphor for how close the world is to an international disaster, with midnight symbolising the end of the world. So the closer the time is to midnight, the closer we are to destruction.
This afternoon, scientists are set to make their annual announcement on whether or not the time on the Doomsday Clock will be changed.
Last year, the Clock stayed at 100 seconds to midnight for the third year in a row, meaning the world was no safer than the previous two years. In order for the clock to be turned back, scientists said in 2022 that the Russian and US presidents should identify "more ambitious and comprehensive limits on nuclear weapons."
They also called for greater global action on climate change - and a global effort to help avoid future pandemics through research.
The Clock's minute hand was originally set at seven minutes to midnight – the point of a hypothetical worldwide disaster. In 2020, it was adjusted to 100 seconds to midnight, the closest we've ever come to total destruction - and it remained there last year.
Before that, it was set at the two-minute mark in 2018 due to concerns over fake news and information warfare. It was previously set at the two-minute point in 1953 when the U.S. and Soviet Union both tested thermonuclear weapons. The farthest it has ever been from midnight was 17 minutes at the end of the Cold War.
The clock is maintained by members of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, who monitor risks to humanity, looking at everything from nuclear proliferation to developments in artificial intelligence.
They host an annual news conference to announce whether the time on the Doomsday Clock will be adjusted, and to explain how they came to their decision. The countdown was established 76 years ago by experts at the Bulletin who were working on the Manhattan Project to design and build the first atomic bomb.
The Bulletin is an independent non-profit organisation run by some of the world’s most eminent scientists, which was originally intended to warn of the threat of nuclear Armageddon.
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