Created in 1947, the apocalypse clock determines, according to experts, the imminence of a planetary cataclysm. With the war in Ukraine, scientists could well advance the hour.
The apocalypse clock has never been so close to midnight. And also close to the end of the world, according to a group of experts, quoted by TF1 Info.
Created in 1947, the clock determines, according to experts, the imminence of a planetary cataclysm.
The clock has never been so close to the gong
Since 1947, members of the NGO Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a group of American atomic scientists, have been broadcasting a count taking into consideration the nuclear, technological and climatic threats to the planet. The Bulletin has reset the minute hand of the clock 24 times since its debut, most recently in 2020.
This Tuesday, January 24, its count should be updated and could climb due to the war in Ukraine. “We are stuck in a perilous moment, which brings neither stability nor security,” said academic Sharon Squassoni, one of the editors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, last year. “The doomsday clock continues to hover above our heads, reminding us of the work needed to ensure a safer and healthier planet,” reports TF1 Info.
But as the scientists point out, if the reasoning is concrete, the time indicated on the dial is only symbolic. “It’s a metaphor, a reminder of the perils we have to face if we want to survive on the planet.”
Since its creation, the Doomsday Clock has been adjusted 24 times. In 1953, it was two minutes to midnight following the production of the hydrogen bomb by the United States.