The Doomsday clock has moved to 10 seconds closer means at 90 seconds, closer than ever to the midnight today at an event The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS). The idea of the clock came up in 1947 after the dangers of nuclear war have surrounded the world to warn humanity of its creation.
The clock was created by a group of several atomic scientists, including Albert Einstein, who has worked on the development of the first-ever nuclear weapon during WWII.
This is a Chicago-based NGO, where the bulletin updates the clock time annually based on the information regarding catastrophic risks to the planet and humanity. It has begun ticking 75 years ago at seven minutes to the midnight. The clock was set to the 17 minutes from midnight in 1991, which was the furthest from the doomsday, as the Strategic Arm Reduction Treaty has been signed between the US and the Soviet Union.
The decision of changing the time in the dooms clock has been taken into consideration every year. They said that the world is closer to a catastrophe than ever as the use of a nuclear weapon, climate change, and covid19 poses a threat, where midnight is a symbol stating the end of humanity.
"Russia's thinly-veiled threats to use nuclear weapons remind the world that escalation of the conflict by accident, intention, or miscalculation is a terrible risk. The possibilities that the conflict could spin out of anyone's control remains high", Rachel Bronson, the Bulletin's president, and CEO said at a news conference in Washington on Tuesday.
The group has also given the example of global carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels, after getting rebounded from the COVID situation, which still surging around the globe with emissions still rising, extreme weather conditions continuing, and giving an example of Pakistan flood in 2002.
The group said that it has brought the time close due to the back-to-back Covid waves and war situations happening around the globe, and Russia and Ukraine which have seen the urge of using nuclear weapons.
The clock shows the existential threats and how fast mankind is moving towards it, reading threats at a particular time. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that there was no prospect of any detente, based on “the line that was chosen by NATO under U.S. leadership”.
Rachel Bronson, the Bulletin's president, and CEO urged western countries and Ukraine to redouble their efforts for a negotiated solution. She has also made clear that the decision is not been taken lightly they have looked thoroughly into the matter to communicate it to the general public.
“The US government, its NATO allies, and Ukraine have a multitude of channels for dialogue; we urge leaders to explore all of them to their fullest ability to turn back the Clock," Bronson said.
The event on which the time has increased was discussed by the board of scientists and other experts from various fields, including 13 Nobel Laureates, who determine the movement of the clock.
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