TURN BACK THE CLOCK
The Doomsday Clock specifically. It now stands at 100 seconds to midnight
IF YOU DON’T ALREADY KNOW, the Doomsday Clock symbolically points out how close humankind is hovering to global catastrophe, as represented by midnight. It now hovers at 100 seconds to midnight.
Unlike an abstract end-of-time prophecy, the Doomsday Clock is based on scrutiny and assessment of global events and developments by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, co-founded in 1945 by none other than Albert Einstein and atomic scientists from the University of Chicago. This is done in consultation with a board of sponsors that includes 11 Nobel laureates ‒ all in the interest of world peace.
Therefore, far from intending to push the panic button, the Bulletin puts out impartial analyses to help world leaders, policy makers, and everyday people better understand the dangers and challenges of our times. It also offers insights for steering the world away from imminent destruction.
The Doomsday Clock is universally recognised as an indicator of the world’s vulnerability to catastrophe and this year marks its 75th anniversary. Each year, scientists analyse risks posed in three key areas: nuclear weapons, climate change, and disruptive technologies in other fields. Nuclear technology was initially the focus back in 1947, after the first atomic bombs were used on Japan. In later years, climate change, and currently the global response to the COVID-19 outbreak, have emerged as crucial factors.
The call once more is to “turn back the clock”, to address major global threats and to retreat from a headlong rush into the apocalypse. One of the board’s recommendations this year is for Russia to rejoin the NATO-Russia Council and collaborate on risk reduction and escalation avoidance measures, so as to avoid a bloody war in the Ukraine. While that is out of the hands of ordinary folks like us, what we can do is make lifestyle choices to push governments to act on reversing climate change. More importantly, we should take up the fight against disinformation, for only on truth should anyone base their decisions.