The marking carried out by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists corresponds to that of 2023 and is the closest to the apocalypse
The magazine “The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists”, founded in 1947, announced this Tuesday (January 23, 2024) that the “Doomsday Clock” was only 90 seconds away from midnight.
The clock is a metaphor that symbolizes how close humanity is to its own destruction. Midnight would be the time that represents the end of times. The marker is the same as 2023 and is the closest thing to the “apocalypse” ever recorded.
In a statement, the bulletin said the 90second period to midnight “reflects the ongoing state of unprecedented danger facing the world.” You can find the full text here (PDF, 552 kB, in English).
The marker is linked to the war between Russia and Ukraine, the deterioration of nuclear arms reduction agreements, the climate crisis and the official designation of 2023 as the warmest year on record.
It also takes into account the increasing sophistication of genetic engineering technologies and the advancement of generative AI (artificial intelligence), which, according to the bulletin, “could increase disinformation and corrupt the global information environment.”
The Doomsday Clock is set annually by the 17 members of the Bulletin's Science and Security Council in consultation with its sponsoring council, which includes 30 people, including 9 Nobel Prize winners.
They discuss world events and decide where the clock hands should be placed. According to USA Today, board members answer two questions each year:
- Is humanity safer or more at risk this year than last year?
- Compared to the 77 years since the clock changed, is humanity safer or at greater risk?
THE BULLETIN AND DATES
The Bulletin was founded in 1945 by a group of scientists who took part in the Manhattan Project a secret US program that developed the first atomic bomb. The publication addresses scientific advances with potentially negative potential for the world.
After the Cold War (19451991), the Bulletin which only considered the risk of nuclear war in its assessment began to include clock variables such as global warming, cyberattacks and nuclear proliferation.
The clock is updated every January and is changed 30 times by the magazine. The largest gap from midnight occurred in 1991, when a nuclear arsenal reduction agreement between the United States and the USSR updated the clock to 17 minutes past midnight.
Since 2020, minutes have become seconds. In 2020, 2021 and 2022, the “Doomsday Clock” marked 100 seconds until the end of the world. Possible nuclear war, climate change and the Covid19 pandemic were cited as reasons.
Last year was the first time the clock showed 90 seconds to midnight. At that time, the beginning of the war between Russia and Ukraine, the expansion of nuclear weapons in China and North Korea were the points that moved the clock forward.
For 2024, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists says that “the world can become safer” and “the clock can move away from midnight” if governments and people take urgent action.
“As a first step, three of the world's greatest powers (US, China and Russia), despite their profound differences, must begin a serious dialogue on each of the global threats [nuclear, biológicas, mudanças climáticas e IA]”, He specifies.
According to the bulletin, the three countries must “take responsibility for the existential threat facing the world.” “You have the ability to bring the world back from the brink of disaster. They must do this with clarity and courage and without delay,” he said.
CORRECTION
January 23, 2024 (4:26 p.m.) Contrary to what was published in this post, the “doomsday clock” is not 90 minutes, but 90 seconds away from the “apocalypse”.