The time on the metaphorical Doomsday Clock remains unchanged at the closest to midnight that it’s ever been, signaling a “continuing and unprecedented level of risk” of global catastrophe, scientists warn.
In an announcement Tuesday, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists said it was keeping the time on the Doomsday Clock at 90 seconds to midnight — the same as 2023 — as the risks of last year continue with “unabated ferocity.”
“Our decision should not be taken as a sign that the international security situation has eased,” the Bulletin said in a statement, adding that “ominous trends continue to point the world toward global catastrophe.”
“Instead, leaders and citizens around the world should take this statement as a stark warning and respond urgently, as if today were the most dangerous moment in modern history. Because it may well be.”
What are the threats?
In deciding the time for 2024, scientists considered multiple global threats, including artificial intelligence, the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the Russia-Ukraine war, Israel-Hamas conflict, bio-threats and the continued climate crisis.
In 2023, the world experienced its hottest year on record as greenhouse gas emissions continued to rise.
Rachel Bronson, CEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, said the lack of action on climate change “threatens billions of lives and livelihoods.”
Meanwhile, last year also saw tensions erupt in the Middle East with the Israel-Hamas conflict that started on Oct. 7.
That conflict has the potential to escalate more widely in the region and could pose “unpredictable threats, regionally and globally,” the scientists said.
Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine also poses an “ever-present risk of nuclear escalation,” Bronson said.
The growing use and dangers of AI were also considered in deciding the time.
Recent advances in AI have raised questions about how to control a technology that could “improve or threaten civilization in countless ways,” Bronson said.
What is the Doomsday Clock?
The Doomsday Clock is a metaphor that visualizes and serves as reminder of “the perils we must address if we are to survive on the planet,” according to the group comprised of experts in nuclear risk, climate change and disruptive technologies.
“The Clock has become a universally recognized indicator of the world’s vulnerability to global catastrophe caused by manmade technologies,” says the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board.
Each year, the time on the clock is either moved closer to or further from midnight, or kept unchanged based on the scientists’ reading of existential threats.
Doomsday occurs at midnight, so the closer to midnight the clock is set, the more danger they believe the world is in.
Last year, the clock was moved to 90 seconds from 100 seconds until midnight. This was largely due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the increased risk of nuclear escalation.
The climate change crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic also influenced the new time in 2023.
The Doomsday Clock started ticking, more than 75 years ago, at seven minutes to midnight.
It 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.
Since its launch, the minute hand has been moved 25 times, including last year.
— with files from Reuters