Doomsday Clock Remains Just 90 Seconds Away from 2024 Global Catastrophe – Amid Ukraine and Gaza Wars and AI Arms Race
Humanity continues to find itself in a 'time of unprecedented danger'.
That is the conclusion of scientists behind the Doomsday Clock, a symbolic timepiece that indicates how close the end of the world is.
The clock was updated today and remained at 90 seconds to midnight – the theoretical point of destruction.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which determines where the hands are placed, said this is the closest thing to a global catastrophe since it began in 1947 at the end of World War II.
The researchers cited the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and advances in artificial technology – which many commentators are calling the new nuclear arms race.
Scientists updated the Doomsday Clock Scientists on Tuesday, revealing they are keeping it 90 seconds to midnight – the same as in 2023
Rachel Bronson, president and CEO of the bulletin, said: “Conflict hotspots around the world carry the threat of nuclear escalation, climate change is already causing death and destruction, and disruptive technologies such as AI and biological research are advancing faster than their safeguards.'
She added that leaving the symbolic timepiece unchanged from the previous year “is not an indication that the world is stable.”
'Quite the opposite. There is an urgent need for governments and communities around the world to take action,” Bronson explains.
“And the Bulletin remains hopeful – and inspired – to see younger generations taking the lead.”
Established by American scientists involved in the Manhattan Project, which led to the first nuclear weapons during World War II, the Doomsday Clock is a symbolic countdown to represent how close humanity is to completing a global catastrophe.
Artist Martyl Langsdorf was commissioned to create the timepiece and tasked with creating an image that would “scare people into rationality,” according to Eugene Rabinowitch, the first editor of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.
The Doomsday Clock started in 1947 with the clock set to seven minutes to midnight, but now it's only 90 seconds to midnight
Rachel Bronson, president and CEO of the bulletin, said keeping the symbolic timepiece unchanged from the previous year is “not an indication that the world is stable.”
The scientists wonder whether humanity is safer or at greater risk this year than compared to the previous and the same question, but compared to the more than 75 years that the Doomsday Clock has existed.
And so they determined where time will stand.
The war in Ukraine was largely behind the scientists' 2023 decision, but continued bombings, deaths and nuclear war threats have played a role in this year's Doomsday Clock.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, in an escalation of the war that began in 2014.
“A lasting end to Russia's war in Ukraine seems remote, and Russia's use of nuclear weapons in that conflict remains a serious possibility. Over the past year, Russia has sent numerous nuclear signals of concern,” Bronson said.
She further explained that Putin's announcement to use nuclear weapons also contributed to the Bulletin's decision.
The unchanged clock – a symbolic timepiece showing how close the world is to the end – was attributed to the wars in Ukraine
The war in Gaza was also mentioned as a factor. The conflict began on October 7, when Hamas gunmen launched a surprise Israel, killing more than 1,400 people and taking 220 hostages.
In addition, in October 2023, the Russian parliament passed a law that revokes ratification of the global treaty banning nuclear weapons tests.
Putin also threatened the West with total nuclear annihilation in 2013; the country has more than 5,800 nuclear warheads in its arsenal.
The war in Gaza was also cited as a factor in leaving the Doomsday Clock unchanged.
The conflict began on October 7, when Hamas gunmen launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing more than 1,400 people and taking 220 hostages.
The unprecedented strike reignited the ongoing war between the two nations.
More than 25,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health.
“As a nuclear state, Israel's actions are clearly relevant to the Doomsday Clock discussion,” Bronson said.
Climate change was also part of the scientists' decision, noting that “the world entered 'unloaded territory' for climate impacts last year, with conditions exceeding past extremes by huge margins”
The most significant development in disruptive technology last year was dramatic advances in generative artificial intelligence, the scientists said
'Of particular concern is that the conflict could escalate more broadly in the region, triggering a larger conventional war and attracting more nuclear or near-nuclear powers.'
When the clock was first created, the greatest danger came from nuclear weapons. Climate change was taken into account as a factor for the first time in 2007.
Climate change was also part of the scientists' decision, noting that “the world entered 'unloaded territory' for climate impacts last year, with conditions exceeding past extremes by huge margins.”
Data showed that 2023 was the warmest year on record, with a global average temperature of 58.96°F, about 0.3°F higher than the previous record holder – 2016.
“A lack of action on climate change threatens billions of lives,” Bronson said during the live-streamed event.
Bronson also expressed concern about biological threats amid the revolution in life sciences and related technologies.
Biological research aimed at preventing future pandemics has proven useful, but also carries the risk of creating one, she said.
“And recent advances in artificial intelligence raise all kinds of questions about control over a technology that could enhance or threaten civilization in countless ways.”