The Doomsday Clock is currently 100 seconds away from midnight and thus the end of humanity. From its name, one might think that it is just another of the many conspiracy theories about the end of our civilisation, but surprisingly, behind this clock there are as many as 11 Nobel Prize-winning scientists.
The Clock of the End of the World is a symbolic tool that reflects how close we are to the moment when the Earth will be destroyed. It was founded in 1945 by Albert Einstein together with a group of scientists from the University of Chicago who were part of the development of the first atomic weapons of the Manhattan Project. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists created the Doomsday Clock two years later (1947), using the midnight hour as the time of the Apocalypse.
The clock is today a universally recognised and valuable indicator of the vulnerability and risk of collapse of our civilisation. Whether it is a catastrophe caused by nuclear weapons, natural disasters, climate change or disruption of energy services for various reasons, the clock is today a universally recognised and valuable indicator of the vulnerability and risk of collapse of our civilisation.
What threats are we facing and what could bring about the end of humanity according to the experts?
The clock is updated once a year. If there are no or insignificant changes, the time remains the same. In the last decade, the hands have moved a total of 6 times, with 2020 being the first time in its history that the clock was only 100 seconds off midnight.
2010 - 6 minutes
2012 - 5 minutes
2015 - 3 minutes
2017 - 2 minutes and 30 seconds
2018 - 2 minutes
2020 - 100 seconds
The threats of greatest concern are the proliferation of nuclear weapons and armed conflicts. The COVID-19 pandemic was a major aggravating factor in reaching 100 seconds to midnight, but we should not forget that this year it could come even closer as a result of the armed conflict initiated by Russia against Ukraine. On 27 February, Vladimir Putin threatened the rest of the world that he had ordered the activation of all deterrent forces with nuclear weapons.
Throughout its history, the time of the Domsday Clock approached 12:00 a.m. with events such as:
The creation of the hydrogen bomb
The Vietnam War
India's emergence as a country with a nuclear arsenal
Ronald Reagan's announcement of the construction of a space weapons defence system
The attacks on the Twin Towers
Trump's accession to the White House
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