Have you heard of the doomsday clock? Its main function is not only to mark the hours, as is the case with the most common versions. None of them! His main goal is to be able to predict when the world will end. To do this, several events are evaluated that are recorded around the world, such as wars.
The clock was created in 1947, which means this device has been working and has been modified if necessary for 76 years. The last adjustments were made last year when it was set to one hundred seconds to midnight. Coincidentally, the same thing happened in 2020.
Doomsday Clock: What Happens When It Strikes Midnight?
Sharon Squassoni, CoChair of Bulletin’s Science and Security Council: “The 100 seconds to midnight reflects the Council’s assessment that we are at a dangerous moment that brings neither stability nor security. The positive developments of 2021 could not offset the longterm negative trends.”
Originally, the watch was designed to measure nuclear threats, which were increasing at the time the device was developed. As of 2007, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, a group of scientists who cares about the clock, decided to also include in this measurement all climate changes recorded on our planet.
The clock is based on human actions that can be destructive to our planet. This is why events such as wars and nuclear threats are so relevant to adjustment calculations.
Some people do not really believe in the effectiveness of creation, certain that civilization has come close to destroying the planet several times in the last few decades. It is worth noting that the clock is not always adjusted, ie it can pass years unchanged, but it can also be adjusted every year.
The reality is that the Doomsday Clock has never reached midnight in its 76 years of existence. According to the scientists involved in the creation, they really hope that this never happens.
“When the clock strikes midnight, it means that some kind of catastrophic nuclear shift or climate change has occurred that is wiping out humanity,” said Rachel Bronson, CEO of the Bulletin. “So we don’t want to get there and we won’t know when we’re going to get there.”