What clock has hands that move both forward and backward, is controlled by humans, and represents the impending threat of disaster? The Doomsday Clock.
The Doomsday Clock symbolizes the intensity of scientific concern regarding the likelihood of humanity’s potential annihilation — the closer the hands are to midnight, the closer Doomsday is to arriving. It was created by in 1947 by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (“Bulletin”), a group of researchers at the University of Chicago who helped develop the first atomic weapons. Now, in consultation with the Board of Sponsors, the physicists and environmental scientists of the Bulletin control adjustments to the clock.
On January 25, 2018, the Doomsday clock advanced by 30 seconds and was moved to 2 minutes until midnight. The only other time in history that the clock has been so close to midnight was in 1953, during the Cold War.
The two primary reasons for the advancement of the Doomsday Clock’s hands are the risks posed by nuclear weapons and global warming. “In 2017, world leaders failed to respond effectively to the looming threats of nuclear war and climate change, making the world security situation more dangerous than it was a year ago – and as dangerous as it has been since World War II”, the Bulletin’s security board said.
With regard to the danger of nuclear weapons, there are currently risks posed by North Korea’s nuclear program, tensions between Russia and the United States, tensions in the South China Sea, increasing numbers of nuclear weapons in Pakistan and India, and the Iran nuclear deal. Unless addressed, these issues will continue to threaten world peace.
Furthermore, scientists also noted that the necessary reduction of greenhouse gases to slow the currently exponential warming of the planet has not been executed.
Further exacerbating these issues, the Bulletin continued, “in 2017, the United States backed away from its longstanding leadership role in the world, reducing its commitment to seek common ground and undermining the overall effort toward solving [these] pressing global governance challenges.”
With the United States relinquishing its active global position in the efforts to resolve the world’s most serious issues, the end of the world apparently nears. Beatrice Fihn, the Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, says the advancing of the Doomsday Clock is “obviously deeply concerning and worrying, and reflects where we are today.”
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