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Well, this is depressing.

The Doomsday Clock, established 75 years ago by scientists to illustrate the threat to human extinction, is ticking close to disaster.

Closer than at the height of the Cold War, for some perspective.

It has been set at 100 seconds to midnight – midnight being the ultimate void, I guess.

That’s where it’s been for three years now, as nuclear tensions mount and the climate crisis worsens.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, in charge of the annual unveiling of the clock’s hands, say that although the Doomsday Clock is holding steady at 100 seconds to midnight, steady is not a good thing.

Rather, it “reflects the judgment of the board that we are stuck in a perilous moment, one that brings neither stability nor security”.

Awesome.

FYI, the board of scientists deciding on the minutes to midnight include 13 Nobel Laureates.

Metro has more:

The announcement comes in the context of a major escalation in weapons testing by North Korea. Kim Jong-un has overseen four major launches since the beginning of the year in retaliation for the US’ decision to impose sanctions on key figures linked to the despotic regime.

…Tensions are also mounting with Russia over a build-up of troops on Ukraine’s border, which Western government fear is a prelude to an invasion.

The Doomsday Clock was initially created in 1947 to alert the general public to the threat posed by nuclear arms, but since 2007, it has also started assessing the health of the planet, taking climate change into consideration.

As you may well know, the COP26 summit in Glasgow failed to bring world leaders together to reach an agreement that would ensure the avoidance of climate catastrophe:

Greenpeace hailed some movement but called the deal ‘meek’ and ‘weak’ after a last minute hijacking by China and India saw language on phasing out coal watered down, a move which reduced conference chair Alok Sharma to tears.

Overall, the board is describing a “mixed-threat environment, one with positive developments counteracted by accelerating negative ones”.

As the Doomsday Clock continues to hover dangerously, the board wants to remind us how much work is needed to ensure a safer and healthier planet.

“We must continue to push the hands of the clock away from midnight,” they say.

That’s easier said than done.

[source:metro]