Doomsday clock 2023 announced to warn of nuclear catastrophe

Doomsday clock 2023 announced to warn of nuclear catastrophe – USA TODAY

Doomsday clock 2023 announced to warn of nuclear catastropheplay

What does it mean when the doomsday clock strikes midnight?

From nuclear weapons to climate change, the doomsday clock symbolizes how close we are to the end of the world.

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Every January for the last 75 years, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has published a new doomsday clock, indicating how close – or far – mankind is to the abyss.

The next issue will be released on January 24th at 10am EST. It’s the first update to the clock since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine renewed fears of global nuclear war.

In the past, the clock has measured the danger of a nuclear catastrophe, but that’s not the only apocalyptic scenario being considered. Climate change, bioterrorism, artificial intelligence, and the damage done by misinformation and disinformation have also been added to the mix of possible disasters.

Each year, the 22 members of the Science and Safety Council are asked two questions:

  • Is humanity safer or at greater risk this year than last year?
  • Compared to the 76 years since the clock was set, is humanity safer or at greater risk?

Here’s what you should know about the 2023 doomsday clock:

How did the doomsday clock begin?

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Two years later, while contemplating a world where two nuclear weapons had been used in Japan, the same scientists gathered to discuss the threat of nuclear war to humanity.

“They were concerned that the public didn’t really know how close we were to the end of life as we knew it,” said Rachel Bronson, the Bulletin’s president and CEO.

Martyl Langsdorf, an artist and wife of Manhattan Project physicist Alexander Langsdorf Jr., came up with the idea of ​​a clock to show how close things were.

It was called the doomsday clock.

“There was a sense that if we didn’t do anything, it would move on around midnight, and we could see the apocalypse,” Bronson said.

Where is the doomsday clock now?

For the past two years, the Doomsday Clock has stood at 100 seconds to midnight, closer to destruction than at any point since its inception in 1947.

What does midnight mean on the doomsday clock?

Midnight on the doomsday clock represents how close humans are to bringing about a civilization-ending catastrophe because man-made hazards are triggered either by nuclear disasters, climate change, or other catastrophes.

Who decides where to put the doomsday clock?

The Doomsday Clock is set each year by the Bulletin’s 22-member Science and Safety Committee, in consultation with its Board of Sponsors, which includes 11 Nobel Prize winners.

Why is there a doomsday clock?

At its core, the Bulletin’s founders questioned how well humanity was handling the “dangerous Pandora’s box made possible by modern science,” Bronson said.

While technology makes amazing and wonderful things possible, it can also pose risks. In 1947, the greatest of these was the nuclear war. Since then, the Bulletin has added others, including climate change, bioterrorism, artificial intelligence, and the damage done by misinformation and disinformation.

Why is the doomsday clock so prominent?

Over the years, the watch has been used as a reference by the White House, the Kremlin, and the leadership of many other nations. Robert Oppenheimer and Albert Einstein were on the Bulletin’s Board of Sponsors, and John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon wrote articles for the magazine.

While not everyone agrees with the watch’s settings, it’s generally respected for the questions it asks and its science-based stance.

Does the doomsday clock always go forward?

The setting of the clock has jumped back and forth based on world events over the past 75 years.

The furthest from midnight it was ever was in 1991, when it was set at 17 minutes to midnight, after the US and Soviet Union signed the first Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, followed by the dissolution of the USSR.

“People went to sleep every night worrying if they were going to wake up,” said Daniel Holz, a professor of physics at the University of Chicago and co-chair of Bulletin’s Science and Security Board. “That threat was definitely reduced at the end of the Cold War.”

The most pessimistic years were 2021 and 2022 when it was set at 100 seconds to midnight, in part because of global nuclear and political tensions, COVID-19, climate change and the threat of biological weapons.

The first clock, announced in 1947, was set at 7 minutes to midnight.

What is the doomsday clock set to on January 24, 2023?

The doomsday clock will be reset at 10am EST on January 24 in an announcement that will be streamed live on the Bulletin’s website.

The exact time chosen by the scientists who make up the board is a closely guarded secret. But one note: For the first time, the statement will be translated into Russian and Ukrainian.