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A summary compiled by atomic scientists claims that the End of the World Clock will remain unchanged from last year and will hit 100 seconds to midnight, the nearest 24 hours, or the “end of the world” since its creation in 1947. This it means that humanity is still the closest possible apocalypse than ever.
By 2020 the clock was changed to only 100 seconds until midnight, due to the continued possession of nuclear weapons in weaponry, a limited political response to climate change and an increase in cyber misinformation. While there have been some optimistic developments in these areas, such as declining demand for fossil fuels, last year also saw the COVID-19 pandemic, a global catastrophe that highlighted many of the vulnerabilities of our lives in this planet.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is a historic ‘wake-up call,’ a vivid illustration that national governments and international organizations are unprepared to handle nuclear weapons and the threats of climate change that could destroy civilization,” he said Dr. Rachel Bronson.
The doomsday clock project in 1947 launched the Atomic Scientists Scoreboard, a group of nuclear scientists increasingly concerned about the proliferation of atomic bombs and the intense geopolitical disagreement between the United States and the USSR. Many scientists were once involved in the Manhattan Project in the 1940s, a top-secret mission of the United States government to build the first atomic bomb, but scientists were fully aware of the threat from the monster they had created.
At the start of the Cold War in 1947, the clock was set at 7 minutes to midnight, a time choice largely influenced by disputes between nuclear weapons superpowers. As Cold War tensions waned, the clock was moving further and further away from the midnight mark. The clock was further away from midnight in 1991. – It reached 11:43 p.m. when the Cold War was coming to an end after 1989. the fall of the Berlin Wall, the disintegration of the USSR and the signing of strategic reduction treaties of weapons.
Since then, however, the clock has gradually struck again around midnight. In recent years, the approach to midnight has been driven mainly by three factors: the persistent accumulation of nuclear weapons, the lack of action on climate change and the so-called ‘destructive technologies’ that involve increasing misinformation, cyber-fighting and intelligence. artificial.
It seems that the threat of nuclear war in the 21st century is already unrealistic, but the threat still lingers in the fate of our entire planet. Despite advances in reducing the Cold War stockpiles of nuclear weapons, in 2020 At the beginning of the 19th century, the total inventory of nuclear weapons was approximately 13,410 warheads, roughly the same as in the 1950s. 1800 warheads are also ready to use very quickly.
VIDEO: Scientists keep the doomsday clock at 100 seconds to midnight, same as in 2020 | NBC News NOW
However, the misconduct of governments, institutions and the “deluded society” during the COVID-19 pandemic shows that humanity remains unprepared to face the greatest threats of nuclear war and climate change, according to a scientific bulletin. In a separate statement, he accused governments of “lack of accountability” and of ignoring scientific advice on one of the world’s biggest public health crises, but acknowledged that the election of US President Biden, which supports international cooperation and science policies, it is a positive step forward.
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