Doomsday Clock Still Set At Five To Midnight

The Doomsday Clock is still set at five minutes to midnight, the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists announced on Tuesday.

The clock acts as a visual metaphor for the dangers of a “civilization threatening technological catastrophe.” The closer it is to midnight, the closer the world is to ending.

The board makes their decision by analyzing international threats, especially those that involve nuclear arsenals, as well as climate change. After they make their calculations, they then decide what time they should set on the Doomsday Clock.

“As always, new technologies hold the promise of doing great good, supplying new sources of clean energy, curing disease, and otherwise enhancing our lives,” wrote the board. “From experience, however, we also know that new technologies can be used to diminish humanity and destroy societies,” the board wrote. “We can manage our technology, or become victims of it. The choice is ours, and the Clock is ticking.”

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists invented the Doomsday Clock after the publication conducted some research by the scientists behind the invention of the Atomic Bomb.

Martyl Langsdorf, who was married to physicist Alexander Langsdorf, one of the workers on the Manhattan Project, was an American artist who devised the Doomsday Clock image. This was then published on the cover of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in June 1947. The first time set was 11:53 p.m.

The Doomsday Clock was set one minute closer to midnight back in January 2012. This decision was made because of the increase in nuclear arsenals across the world. The 2011 meltdown at Fukushima nuclear power plant, which was caused by the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and the creation and release of the H5N1 flu virus, also greatly worried scientists.

In 2013, the time remained at five to midnight because of the strained relationship between Russia and the United States. The board remains cautious because these two countries both possess huge nuclear arsenals.

Also, the world’s attempts to fight climate change have also stalled. The European Union, Australia, and the United States have all shown a flimsy commitment to renewable energy, and Japan has even stopped promising to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

The closest the Doomsday Clock has even been to midnight was back in 1958, when it was timed at 11:58 p.m. This was because of the first hydrogen bomb test. However, back in 1991, the time was set at 17 minutes to midnight thanks to the end of the Cold War. Sadly, since then, it has slowly ticked closer and closer to Midnight and oblivion.