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Topics: World News, Science, Doomsday Clock, Climate Change
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: World News, Science, Doomsday Clock, Climate Change
Nuclear and climate scientists are gathering today to update the Doomsday Clock, revealing how close the world is to man-made global disaster.
As if the world wasn't worrying enough already, there's a so-called Doomsday Clock which marks the 'end of civilization'.
Before you roll your eyes thinking the clock is a tale spun from some random book or a fortune teller from the past, slightly more worryingly so, it was created by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, the team that developed the first atomic bombs.
The group was founded in the wake of World War II by scientists from the Manhattan Project and they created the Doomsday Clock as a symbolic timepiece to warn mankind about how close to a catastrophic global disaster we are becoming.
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The clock works by its hands being moved closer or further away from midnight - the closer, the nearer we are to total destruction, the further away, the more we've been doing to help save the world.
And today (January 27), is the day when the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board gather to confer over whether the hands need to be moved closer or further away.
The last edit of the clock took into consideration misuses of artificial intelligence (AI) and biological intelligence, alongside the ongoing wars in areas such as Ukraine and Gaza, as well as climate change.
As a result, the clock currently stands at 89 seconds (1 minute and 29 seconds) to midnight - the closest it's ever been to hitting 12 (0).
Well, thankfully, it's not like the whole world explodes or anything if it strikes midnight - it's not predicting the exact date a nuclear war could break out or asteroid hit Earth.
However, perhaps even more eerie is essentially, it symbolizes humanity reaching a point of supposed no return - marking no way back for our planet.
The Doomsday Clock is currently reviewed every year by the Science and Security Board in consultation with its Board of Sponsors.
The meeting to discuss the latest configuration of the clock is reported as taking place in Washington, DC, at the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists' HQ.
It involves several experts in nuclear technology, climate science and other sciences sitting down to discuss how close to a man-made global catastrophe they believe the world is.
Members include director of global risk at the Federation of American Scientists Jon Wolfsthal, retired US Air Force major general and adjunct professor at the University of Notre Dame Robert Latiff and former Under Secretary for Nuclear Security at the Department of Energy, Jill Hruby.
The announcement of any update to the placement of the gloomy clock's hands is reported as being resolved at 9am local time.
Experts have already spoken out with their predictions, but if you hadn't got enough of a countdown buzz from New Year's, you can watch the unveiling of the latest Doomsday Clock setting live.