The apocalypse clock, which since 1947 has symbolized the imminence of a global cataclysm, moved closer to midnight on Tuesday than ever, as concerns grow over nuclear weapons, climate change and disinformation.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set it at 85 seconds before midnight, four seconds less than a year ago.
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The announcement comes a year into US President Donald Trump‘s second term, during which he upended the world order, ordering unilateral attacks and withdrawing from a series of international organizations.
Russia, China, the United States and other major countries have “become increasingly aggressive, hostile and nationalistic,” this group of scientists said in a statement announcing the advancement of the clock, decided after consultation with a committee including eight Nobel laureates.
“Hard-won international agreements are crumbling, accelerating a winner-takes-all great power competition and undermining essential international cooperation to reduce the risks of nuclear war, climate change, the misuse of biotechnology, the potential threat of artificial intelligence and other apocalyptic dangers,” they said.
The committee also warned of increased risks of a nuclear arms race as the New Start nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and Russia is set to expire next week and Mr. Trump pushes to establish a costly missile defense system, the “Golden Dome,” that would place weapons in orbit.
He also highlighted record levels of carbon dioxide emissions, the main driver of global warming. Here too, Donald Trump has radically reversed American policy in the fight against climate change.
“We are experiencing an information Armageddon – the crisis under all crises – fueled by predatory technology that spreads lies faster than facts and profits from our divisions,” said Maria Ressa, a Filipino investigative journalist and 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Sometimes called the Doomsday Clock, this metaphorical indicator was created in 1947 in response to the rise of nuclear danger and the confrontation between the two blocs during the Cold War.
The year it was created, the clock was set to seven minutes to midnight.
Since then, members of this Chicago-based organization have expanded the criteria to include, for example, pandemics, the climate crisis or state disinformation campaigns.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was founded in 1945 by Albert Einstein and scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project, which produced the first atomic bomb. The expert group sets the new time each year.
