Experts in Washington will announce their findings today on what the state of the Earth is now and just how near we are to apocalypse. Every year, experts behind the clock assess how near or far humanity is to its end as they ask how much of a threat nature and man-made catastrophes could pose any given year. The metaphorical clock, created by the The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, assesses the danger of apocalypse based on the threats such as nuclear Armageddon, bioterrorism, climate change and other catastrophes.
Scientists unveiled the Doomsday Clock in 1947 after the atomic bombs they had helped to create decimated Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of the Second World War.
The clock currently stands at two minutes to midnight – the closest it has been to midnight since 1953 when hydrogen bombs were being tested for the US and Soviet Union as the Cold War began to simmer – after being moved forward by 30 seconds last year.
The move forward was largely prompted by issues created by US President Donald Trump, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Now, experts believe that it could move even closer to the end.
Bruce Blair – one of the world’s foremost experts on nuclear disarmament – told Daily Star Online: “Today’s clock should move closer to midnight by at least 15 and maybe 30 seconds in light of the breakdown in US-Russian relations, the continuing nuclear arms build-ups underway on both sides, the imminent collapse of nuclear arms control which decreased the danger of nuclear war for the past 60 years, and the emergence of new dangers stemming from new technological advances in areas such as cyber-warfare and hypersonic manoeuvrable missiles.”
William Perry, the former US Secretary of Defense, is optimistic the clock may move back.
He tweeted: “Last year the clock moved forward 30 seconds, but we have pushed the clock back before, and can again with smart policy and rigorous diplomacy.”
The clock’s hands are moved annually as scientists decide how close humanity is to destroying itself.
Co-founder Eugene Rabinowitch said when the Doomsday Clock was unveiled originally: “The Bulletin’s clock is not a gauge to register the ups and downs of the international power struggle; it is intended to reflect basic changes in the level of continuous danger in which mankind lives in the nuclear age.”
The announcement will take place today at 3pm GMT.