The Doomsday Clock moves to 100 seconds to midnight

The iconic clock symbolizes how close humanity is to doomsday, and we are closer to midnight than ever since the clock was created in 1947, scientists believe.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists reset the clock on Thursday, and it is now 100 seconds to midnight. The Doomsday Clock has moved closer to midnight for three of the last four years. Last year it was two minutes to midnight.

When the Doomsday Clock was created in 1947, it was the threat of nuclear weapons that dominated. Since 2007, climate change has also been included in the assessment.

“Humanity faces two existential dangers: nuclear weapons and climate change. These threats are compounded by cyber warfare, which undermines society’s ability to respond,” the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist writes in a statement.

The organization points out that the international security situation is serious, not only because the threats exist, but because world leaders have let the control mechanisms of the international political system crumble.

“We now express how close the world is to disaster in seconds and not hours. We are facing an emergency, an absolutely unacceptable condition that has removed any room for errors or further delays,” says President Rachel Bronson of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

Only once before has it been as close to midnight as now, and that was in 1953 when the US and Soviet Union tested hydrogen bombs.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today