Doomsday Clock: what is this doomsday clock that announces an imminent end of the world?


On Tuesday January 24, 2023, the American NGO Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced that the Doomsday Clock now showed 90 seconds before the end of the world. But by the way, what is this doomsday clock?

Is the end of the world drawing near? This is what the American NGO Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BOTAS) suggests. On Tuesday, January 24, 2023, the organization founded in 1945 by Albert Einstein announced that the hand of its doomsday clock had been advanced from 100 to 90 seconds before the end of the world. This is, according to the NGO, the “closest moment to global catastrophe she has ever experienced“.

But what exactly does this famous doomsday clock indicate and above all, how does it work? Founded in 1947, shortly after the start of the Cold War, Doomsday Clock indicates the degree of risk of self-destruction to which humanity is exposed. Each year, scientists from the University of Chicago’s Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, including 13 Nobel laureates, meet to determine whether the world has become safer or more dangerous than it was. the previous year. According to their conclusions, they approach or move away the midnight hand, midnight representing Doomsday (the apocalypse).

Why was the needle advanced to 90 seconds in 2023?

To establish their assessment, scientists take into account in particular the degree of nuclear, ecological and technological threats.The types of nuclear weapons in the world” and “the degree of acidity of our oceans“are thus assessed, but also the problems linked to climate change and the risks associated with new technologies.

In a communicatedthe American NGO explained the advancement of the hand at 90 seconds before the end of the world by the unstable geopolitical situation of our planet, in particular “The Russian Invasion of Ukraine and the Growing Risk of Nuclear Catastrophe”.The new hour was also influenced by the lingering threats related to the climate crisis and the breakdown of global norms and institutions needed to mitigate risks from advanced technologies and biological threats such as Covid-19..”

Faced with these findings, BOTAS scientists are urging government forces to take the necessary measures to hopefully be able to move the needle back. “The doomsday clock is a wake-up call for all mankind. We are on the edge of the precipice, said Mary Robinson, former High Commissioner for Human Rights at the United Nations. But our leaders are not acting fast enough to make our planet safe and livable. (…) The science is clear, but the political will is lacking. This must change in 2023 if we want to avoid catastrophe.”

© Zuma Press

2/6 –

Albert Einstein
Doomsday Clock was created by Albert Einstein in 1947.

© Zuma Press

3/6 –

Albert Einstein
The American NGO Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was founded in 1945.

© Pexels

4/6 –

Is the end of the world drawing near?
On Tuesday, January 24, 2023, the organization founded in 1945 by Albert Einstein announced that the hand of its doomsday clock had been advanced from 100 to 90 seconds before the end of the world.

© Pexels

5/6 –

To establish their assessment, scientists take into account in particular the degree of nuclear, ecological and technological threats.
The climate crisis was taken into account in particular in the decision to advance the hand to 90 seconds before the end of the world.

© Pexels

6/6 –

The Doomsday Clock hand has been advanced from 100 to 90 seconds before the end of the world.
It would be, according to the NGO, the “closest moment of the global catastrophe that she has ever known”.



Source link -107