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WHAT IS THE DOOMSDAY CLOCK?
The "Doomsday Clock" is a symbolic timepiece showing how close the
world is to ending. Midnight marks the theoretical point of
annihilation.
Apocalyptic threats could arise from political tensions, weapons,
technology, climate change and even pandemic illness.
The hands of the clock are moved closer to or further away from
midnight based on the scientists' reading of existential threats at
a particular time.
HOW IS THE CLOCK SET?
A Chicago-based non-profit organization called the Bulletin of the
Atomic Scientists updates the time annually based on information
regarding catastrophic risks to the planet and humanity and displays
the "time" on its website.
A board of scientists and other experts in nuclear technology and
climate science, including 13 Nobel laureates, discuss world events
and determine where to place the hands of the clock each year.
The clock was created in 1947 by a group of atomic scientists,
including Albert Einstein, who had worked on the Manhattan Project
to develop the world's first nuclear weapons during World War II.
WHAT TIME IS IT NOW?
At 100 seconds to midnight, the "Doomsday Clock" is now the closest
it has ever been to midnight. It was set there in 2020 and has
remained there since.
This year, its setting will reflect for the first time a world in
which Russia's invasion of Ukraine has revived fears of nuclear war.
The clock started ticking, more than 75 years ago, at seven minutes
to midnight.
At 17 minutes to midnight, the clock was furthest from doomsday in
1991, as the Cold War ended and the United States and Soviet Union
signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty that substantially
reduced both countries' nuclear weapons arsenals.
(Reporting by Katharine Jackson; Editing by Tim Ahmann and Aurora
Ellis)
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