[imagesource: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was founded in 1945 by Albert Einstein and University of Chicago scientists who helped develop the first atomic weapons in the Manhattan Project (thanks for that).

Two years later, it created the Doomsday Clock.

It uses the imagery of a clock to count down to the apocalypse, using midnight as a symbol for the end of the world, and the contemporary idiom of nuclear explosion (a countdown to zero), to convey threats to humanity on Earth.

The Clock has become a universally recognised indicator of the world’s vulnerability to catastrophic like nuclear weapons, climate change, and disruptive technologies in other areas.

Every year the clock is unveiled, giving us an idea of how close we are to disaster.

This year’s unveiling event was titled: “This is your COVID wake-up call: It is 100 seconds to midnight”.

“Humanity continues to suffer as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads around the world. In 2020 alone, this novel disease killed 1.7 million people and sickened at least 70 million more”, reads the 2021 Doomsday Clock Statement.

“The pandemic revealed just how unprepared and unwilling countries and the international system are to handle global emergencies properly. In this time of genuine crisis, governments too often abdicated responsibility, ignored scientific advice, did not cooperate or communicate effectively, and consequently failed to protect the health and welfare of their citizens”.

As a result, they say, “many hundreds of thousands of human beings died needlessly”.

It was 100 seconds to midnight last year and has therefore remained unchanged.

Let’s watch the reveal:

You can watch the full ‘Doomsday Clock Announcement 2021’, below, which includes interviews with members of the panel that decides how close we are to doom:

Further factors contributing to the current status of the Doomsday Clock include a warning about the dangers of modern technology.

“If humanity is to avoid an existential catastrophe—one that would dwarf anything it has yet seen—national leaders must do a far better job of countering disinformation, heeding science, and cooperating to diminish global risks”.

We can do our bit to counter that as well, by not believing everything that people post on Facebook, or in videos on TikTok and Instagram.

In general, the real purpose of the Doomsday Clock is to give us an idea of what needs to change.

We’re 100 seconds to midnight, so we’d better get on that.

[sources:bulletinatomicscientists]