The Doomsday Clock was reset after two years marking the arrival of apocalypse to be near by 30 seconds. The clock is two and a half minute to midnight.
As per The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, the clock symbolizing the catastrophe due to the threats such as nuclear weapons, climate change and Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president is closest to the midnight in 64 years on Thursday.
Before 2017, the clock’s hands were set this close to midnight in the year 1953 that marked the competition of the nuclear weapons between the United States and the Soviet Union. In 1953, the USA first tested the hydrogen bomb, a fusion weapon much more powerful than the fission bombs that had destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Then the USSR also tested the bomb, a few months later and the clock was advanced to 11:58.
The clock is viewed as an indicator of the world’s vulnerability to the apocalypse.
The Science and Security Board of the bulletin warned saying, “The probability of global catastrophe is very high, and the actions needed to reduce the risks of disaster must be taken very soon.”
The Doomsday Clock has been maintained by the members of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Science and Security Board since 1947. They are advised by the Governing Board and the Board of Sponsors, including 18 Nobel Laureates.
The Clock hangs on a wall in The Bulletin‘s office in the University of Chicago. Since 2007, the Clock has also reflected climate change, global warming and new inventions in the life sciences and technology that could harm humanity leading to the end of human race on the planet.
