WETENSCHAP
Doomsday Clock loopt naar 89 seconden voor middernacht
January 29, 2025 - The Doomsday Clock, a symbolic gauge of how close humanity is to destroying the world, has edged to 89 seconds to midnight – the closest the planet has ever been to that marker.
On January 28, the Doomsday Clock, a symbolic gauge of how close humanity is to destroying the world, was set forward by one second to 89 seconds to midnight.
It’s the closest the emblem has ever been to that marker since its inception in 1947, with midnight representing the moment humanity makes the planet uninhabitable.
Originally conceived by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists as a measure of nuclear threat (its members worked on the Manhattan Project atomic bomb during World War II), the decision to include climate change in its calculations was taken in 2007.
For the past two years the clock has stood at 90 seconds to midnight, mainly due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas conflict, climate change, biological threats and the potential for global hostilities to set off a nuclear arms race.
Daniel Holz, the Bulletin’s science and security board chair says, “We set the clock closer to midnight because we do not see sufficient, positive progress on the global challenges we face”.
He elaborated that progress in the development of “disruptive technologies” such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology and space has outpaced regulation.