{"id":228130,"date":"2023-01-30T12:00:18","date_gmt":"2023-01-30T12:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=228130"},"modified":"2023-01-26T05:51:24","modified_gmt":"2023-01-26T05:51:24","slug":"doomsday-clock-moves-to-90-seconds-to-midnight-as-nuclear-threat-rises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2023\/01\/doomsday-clock-moves-to-90-seconds-to-midnight-as-nuclear-threat-rises\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Doomsday Clock&#8217; Moves to 90 Seconds to Midnight as Nuclear Threat Rises"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_228132\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/doomsday-clock-90-minutes-atomic.jpg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-228132\" class=\"wp-image-228132\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/doomsday-clock-90-minutes-atomic.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/doomsday-clock-90-minutes-atomic.jpg 960w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/doomsday-clock-90-minutes-atomic-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/doomsday-clock-90-minutes-atomic-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-228132\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The clock with the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is placed ahead of the announcement of the location of the minute hand on its Doomsday Clock, indicating what world developments mean for the perceived likelihood of nuclear catastrophe, at the National Press Club in Washington, U.S., January 24, 2023. REUTERS\/Leah Millis<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em>25 Jan 2023 &#8211; <\/em>Atomic scientists set the &#8220;Doomsday Clock&#8221; closer to midnight than ever before on Tuesday [24 Jan], saying threats of nuclear war, disease, and climate volatility have been exacerbated by Russia&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine, putting humanity at greater risk of annihilation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__full_width__ekUdw body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\" data-testid=\"paragraph-1\">The &#8220;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/lifestyle\/science\/what-is-doomsday-clock-how-does-it-work-2023-01-23\/\" class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__medium__1kbOh text__large__nEccO link__underline_default__2prE_\"  data-testid=\"Link\">Doomsday Clock<\/a>,&#8221; created by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists to illustrate how close humanity has come to the end of the world, moved its &#8220;time&#8221; in 2023 to 90 seconds to midnight, 10 seconds closer than it has been for the past three years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__full_width__ekUdw body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\" data-testid=\"paragraph-2\">Midnight on this clock marks the theoretical point of annihilation. The clock&#8217;s hands are moved closer to or further away from midnight based on scientists&#8217; reading of existential threats at a particular time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__full_width__ekUdw body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\" data-testid=\"paragraph-3\">The new time reflects a world in which Russia&#8217;s <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/europe\/ukraine-pledges-sweeping-personnel-changes-allies-jostle-over-tanks-2023-01-23\/\" class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__medium__1kbOh text__large__nEccO link__underline_default__2prE_\"  data-testid=\"Link\">invasion of Ukraine<\/a> has revived fears of nuclear war.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__full_width__ekUdw body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\" data-testid=\"paragraph-4\">&#8220;Russia&#8217;s thinly veiled threats to use nuclear weapons remind the world that escalation of the conflict by accident, intention or miscalculation is a terrible risk. The possibilities that the conflict could spin out of anyone&#8217;s control remains high,&#8221; Rachel Bronson, the bulletin&#8217;s president and CEO told a news conference in Washington on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<div class=\"spacing-container__container__2g5QT spacing-container__t-spacing-single__1uXb9 spacing-container__b-spacing-single__2RCDp spacing-container__max-width__zScFd\" data-testid=\"Latest Updates\">\n<div class=\"desktop-latest-updates__container__3z03m\">\n<ul class=\"desktop-latest-updates__list__WA9J0\">\n<li class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__medium__1kbOh text__body__yKS5U body__base__22dCE body__body_alt__2kEQu desktop-latest-updates__list-item__1yn2z\" data-testid=\"Body\"><em><strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/lifestyle\/science\/what-is-doomsday-clock-how-does-it-work-2023-01-23\/\" class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__inherit-color__3208F text__inherit-font__1Y8w3 text__inherit-size__1DZJi link__underline_on_hover__2zGL4\"  data-testid=\"Link\">Explainer: What is the &#8216;Doomsday Clock&#8217; and how does it work?<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__full_width__ekUdw body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\" data-testid=\"paragraph-5\">The bulletin&#8217;s announcement will for the first time be translated from English into Ukrainian and Russian to garner relevant attention, Bronson said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__full_width__ekUdw body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\" data-testid=\"paragraph-6\">A Chicago-based non-profit organization, the bulletin updates the clock&#8217;s time annually based on information regarding catastrophic risks to the planet and humanity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__full_width__ekUdw body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\" data-testid=\"paragraph-7\">The organization&#8217;s board of scientists and other experts in nuclear technology and climate science, including 13 Nobel Laureates, discuss world events and determine where to place the hands of the clock each year.<\/p>\n<div class=\"caption-v2__container__2kWHy caption\">\n<div class=\"caption-v2__readmore-wrapper__3Mflc\">Apocalyptic threats reflected by the clock include politics, weapons, technology, climate change and pandemics.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__full_width__ekUdw body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\" data-testid=\"paragraph-9\">The clock had been set to 100 seconds to midnight since 2020, which was already the closest it had ever come to midnight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__full_width__ekUdw body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\" data-testid=\"paragraph-10\">The board said the war in Ukraine had also heightened the risk that biological weapons could be deployed if the conflict continued.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__full_width__ekUdw body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\" data-testid=\"paragraph-11\">&#8220;The continuing stream of disinformation about bioweapons&#8217; laboratories in Ukraine raises concerns that Russia itself may be thinking of deploying such weapons,&#8221; Bronson said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__full_width__ekUdw body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\" data-testid=\"paragraph-12\">Sivan Kartha, a bulletin board member and scientist at the Stockholm Environmental Institute, said natural gas prices pushed to new heights by the war had also spurred companies to develop sources of natural gas outside of Russia and turned power plants to coal as an alternative power source.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__full_width__ekUdw body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\" data-testid=\"paragraph-13\">&#8220;Global carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels, after having rebounded from the COVID economic decline to an all-time-high in 2021, continue to rise in 2022 and hit another record high&#8230; With emissions still rising, weather extremes continue, and were even more clearly attributable to climate change,&#8221; Kartha said, pointing to the devastating flooding in Pakistan in 2022 as an example.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__full_width__ekUdw body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\" data-testid=\"paragraph-14\">The clock was created in 1947 by a group of atomic scientists, including Albert Einstein, who had worked on the Manhattan Project to develop the world&#8217;s first nuclear weapons during World War Two.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__full_width__ekUdw body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\" data-testid=\"paragraph-15\">More than 75 years ago, it began ticking at seven minutes to midnight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__full_width__ekUdw body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\" data-testid=\"paragraph-16\">At 17 minutes to midnight, the clock was furthest from &#8220;doomsday&#8221; in 1991, as the Cold War ended and the United States and Soviet Union signed a treaty that substantially reduced both countries&#8217; nuclear weapons arsenals.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph-16\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/lifestyle\/science\/doomsday-clock-moves-90-seconds-midnight-nuclear-threat-rises-2023-01-24\/\" >Go to Original &#8211; reuters.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>24 Jan 2023 &#8211; Today the &#8220;Doomsday Clock,&#8221; created by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, moved its &#8220;time&#8221; to 90 seconds to midnight, 10 seconds closer than the past three years, to illustrate how threats of nuclear war, disease and climate volatility have been exacerbated, putting humanity at greater risk of annihilation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":228132,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[1812,1811],"class_list":["post-228130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-bulletin-atomic-scientists","tag-doomsday-clock"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}