The hand remains stuck, 90 seconds before the fateful midnight gong.
Like every year for more than 70 years, experts from the scientific journal Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists unveiled this Tuesday the new time of the apocalypse clock.
Against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and climate change, it was brought forward to January 2023 at 23 hours, 58 minutes and 30 seconds.
She remains stuck on this schedule this year, 90 seconds from the apocalypse.
“Humanity remains facing unprecedented danger,” warns the group of experts, saying it is “deeply concerned about the deteriorating state of the world.”
Today, the Bulletin's Science and Security Board once again sets the #DoomsdayClock at 90 seconds to midnight.
Humanity continues to face an unprecedented level of danger.
Read the full statement: https://t.co/PowB7RkzXw pic.twitter.com/aRyF2ZX3wB
— Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (@BulletinAtomic) January 23, 2024
Among the threats this year, they again point to the war in Ukraine, the deterioration of nuclear arms reduction agreements, the climate crisis or even the spectacular advance of generative AI “which could amplify disinformation and corrupt the information environment global ".
“Make no mistake: Keeping the clock at 90 seconds to midnight is not an indication that the world is stable.
There is an urgent need for action from governments and communities around the world,” said Bulletin President Rachel Bronson.
When was the first “diagnosis” of the Doomsday Clock?
We must first date the creation of this group of experts, in 1945. At the time, it was made up of Albert Einstein and scientists who worked on the “Manhattan” project, which contributed to the development of the first weapons. atomic.
On its site, it claims to be "a universally recognized indicator of the world's vulnerability to disasters caused by nuclear weapons, climate change and disruptive technologies in other areas."
The first timetable was set in 1947, two years after the end of the Second World War.
The clock then read 7 minutes to midnight.
Also read: Doomsday Clock: behind the scenes of a menacing countdown
Over nearly 75 years, the timetable of the apocalypse clock has logically evolved, following major international events.
In 1991, at the end of the Cold War, for example, it fell to 17 minutes before midnight.
Conversely, in 1953, in the middle of the Korean War, as well as in 2018 and 2019, it showed 2 minutes to midnight. In the last two years, it was stuck at 100 seconds from midnight, already a record.
In 2022, the scientific committee justified this alarming schedule in particular by relations between the United States, China and Russia, which remained “tense”, “the three countries being engaged in a series of modernization and expansion efforts nuclear”.