Does anybody know what time it is — armageddon-wise?

How close are we to the end of the world? And will it come from a nuclear Armageddon, or global climate change?

I haven’t seen this discussed much, but the Doomsday Clock was moved forward two minutes the other day. It’s not a trivial change—from 7 minutes to midnight, to 5 minutes is a change of more than 25 percent. The clock has been moved only 17 times since it was created 60 years ago.

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Adjusts Clock From 7 to 5 Minutes Before Midnight; “ Deteriorating” Global Situation Cited on Nuclear Weapons and New Factor: Climate Change.

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. and LONDON, ENGLAND /// January 17, 2007 /// The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) is moving the minute hand of the Doomsday Clock two minutes closer to midnight. It is now 5 minutes to midnight. Reflecting global failures to solve the problems posed by nuclear weapons and the climate crisis, the decision by the BAS Board of Directors was made in consultation with the Bulletin’s Board of Sponsors, which includes 18 Nobel Laureates.

More than the percentage, the change is significant in another way, though—this is the first time a reason a reason was cited other than nuclear proliferation.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was founded in 1945 by University of Chicago scientists who had worked on the Manhattan Project and were deeply concerned about the use of nuclear weapons and nuclear war. In 1947 the Bulletin introduced its clock to convey the perils posed by nuclear weapons through a simple design. The Doomsday Clock evoked both the imagery of apocalypse (midnight) and the contemporary idiom of nuclear explosion (countdown to zero).

The BAS statement said, “The dangers posed by climate change are nearly as dire as those posed by nuclear weapons.”

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