How Doomsday Clock Works
Another stellar victory for the Trump administration: Today, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has moved the Doomsday clock by 2 minutes from midnight. The bulletin was last subjected to such criticism in 1953, after the USA and the USSR tested their first hydrogen bombs.
What is Doomsday Clock?
Since its introduction in 1947, the Doomsday Clock has become the most famous measure of the risk to humanity of a global catastrophe. Until 2007, he only tracked the danger of nuclear weapons; since then, it has also included the impacts of climate change.
Who sets the clock?
Nineteen members of the Science and Security Council Bulletin, including national security experts, physicists, climatologists, public health experts, and cybersecurity experts; and a Board of Sponsors , including 15 Nobel Prize winners. Annually the Bulletin decides whether to rearrange the clock or leave it as it is. (Until 1973, the editor of the Bulletin set the clock.)
How has the setting changed over time?
The clock was set to 7 minutes before midnight in 1947, partly by accident – it was originally just a newsletter cover, and artist Martil Langsdorff said the setting “I liked it.”
In 1949, when the USSR tested its first atomic bomb, Rabinovich turned the needle 3 minutes before midnight. Since then, the newsletter has changed the setting 22 times . The highest mark was from 17 to midnight, set in 1991 after the US and Russia signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. The lowest mark is 2 am, reached in 1953 and again today.
Why has it changed this time?
In today’s statement, the Bulletin blamed growing tensions between the US and Russia, the US and North Korea, and the US and China.
This is not entirely our fault; the statement also mentions the ongoing arms race between India and Pakistan and Iran’s pursuit of nuclear capabilities.
The ad also discusses the persistent threat of climate change and even mentions fake news and electoral fraud as they reduce the public’s ability to promote sound nuclear and climate policies.
How can we push it back?
The Bulletin has ideas! They listed several points, and here we will rephrase them a little, but:
- Trump needs to fucking calm down.
- The US government must open “multiple channels of communication”, which is very similar to “going behind the administration’s back.”
- China must step up its efforts to get North Korea in shape.
- The US must stop being so dramatic about Iran.
- USA and Russia are talking.
- None of this nuclear bullshit matters if the US and everyone else continues to pump carbon into the air.
- The “international community” must find a way to get people to believe the facts again, because Facebook certainly won’t.
- Nobody makes Terminators or new Ebols, please
The announcement ends with a reassurance that we can all get away from the brink of destruction if we somehow magically stop doing all the bad things we do.
For more answers, read the Bulletin’s Doomsday Clock Frequently Asked Questions .