Doomsday Clock stuck at three minutes to midnight, worst pronouncement since Cold War
The makers of the clock, a symbolic countdown to the end of the world, said the dire prediction was because of climate change and the continued nuclear threat, among other ongoing crises.
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, the group that created the Doomsday clock in 1947, on Tuesday said the clock will stick at three minutes to midnight. The clock serves as a symbol for a countdown to global catastrophe and the end of the world. It stood at two minutes to midnight when the United States tested its first hydrogen bomb in 1953. This is the closest it has been to midnight in the last 20 years, executive director of the group Rachel Bronson said. It stood at 11.57 pm last in 1984, when Cold War tensions were at a peak.
BPA cited nuclear threat, climate change, cyber threats and the rise in terror attacks across the world as reasons for leaving the clock as is. The refugee crisis in the Middle East, tension in the South China Sea, and between the United States and Russia, are just a few reasons why the clock still stands at 11.57 pm. The decision to not change the clock is not good news, Bronson said.
The BPA comprises physicists and environmental scientists from across the world that consults with the group’s Board of Sponsors to decide the clock’s time. The Board of Sponsors includes 17 Nobel laureates.