After a brutal 2020, Doomsday Clock stuck at 100 seconds to midnight
- The deadly coronavirus pandemic serves as a historic ‘wake-up call’, says the head of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, amid nuclear and climate threats
- The group decides where to set the hands of the clock, which illustrates the dangers facing the planet and humankind
The “Doomsday Clock” illustrating the perils facing the planet and humankind will remain at 100 seconds to midnight this year amid the threats of the coronavirus pandemic, nuclear war and climate change.
“The hands of the Doomsday Clock remain at 100 seconds to midnight, as close to midnight as ever,” Rachel Bronson, president of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, said in a statement.
“The lethal and fear-inspiring Covid-19 pandemic serves as a historic ‘wake-up call’, a vivid illustration that national governments and international organizations are unprepared to manage the truly civilisation-ending threats of nuclear weapons and climate change,” Bronson said.
The decision on setting the hands of the clock is taken by board members from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which was founded in 1945 by Albert Einstein and University of Chicago scientists who helped develop the world’s first atomic weapons. The board members include 13 Nobel laureates.
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Created in 1947, the clock moved to 100 seconds to midnight in January of last year – the closest to midnight it has been in its history.
It was originally set at seven minutes to midnight. The furthest it has ever been from midnight is 17 minutes, following the end of the Cold War in 1991.
