Since 2007, the watch has included in its assessments the deterioration of the planet due to global warming and the climate crisis.
Humanity is just 100 seconds away from its end, pushed by the nuclear threat, the climate crisis and the covid-19 pandemic, warned this Thursday the “doomsday clock”, a symbolic tool designed by scientists to alert about threats to the planet.
The clock of the Bulletin of the Board of Science and Safety of Atomic Scientists marked again in 2021 the 23:58:20 hours, the same as in its last annual edition, so the planet is still 100 seconds from sunset.
“The decision does not suggest that the international security situation has stabilized. On the contrary, the Clock remains the closest it has ever been to the apocalypse that will end civilization because the world is still caught in an extremely dangerous moment”, explained the organization in a statement.
The hands of the clock stopped at this critical hour in the wake of “continuing and dangerous threats posed by nuclear weapons, climate change, disruptive technologies and covid-19.”
The current situation is even worse than that of 1953, when the clock struck 11:58 p.m. during one of the most tense stages of the Cold War, when both the Soviets and the Americans conducted their first tests with thermonuclear weapons.
To pull the planet back from the brink, experts called on the US and Russian governments to adopt “more ambitious limits” on nuclear weapons.
They also urged several countries such as the United States and China to “accelerate the decarbonization” of the planet, and strengthen coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO) to “improve surveillance” of diseases.
“The ‘Doomsday Clock’ continues to tick dangerously, reminding us how much work needs to be done to ensure a safer and healthier planet. We must continue to move the hands of the Clock away from midnight,” said Rachel Bronson, president of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.
Also known as the “Doomsday Clock” (“Doomsday Clock”, in English), is a symbol led by a group of scientists, including thirteen Nobel Prize winners, created in 1947, about the risks facing the world and that aims to indicate how close the end of the humanity.
Since 2007, the watch has included in its assessments the deterioration of the planet due to global warming and the climate crisis. (I)
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