WASHINGTON (AP) — With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the specter of the use of nuclear weapons, Earth has crept closer to Armageddon, a science-oriented advocacy group has said, moving its famous “Doomsday Clock” forward just 90 seconds before midnight.
“We are really closer to that doomsday,” former Mongolian President Elbegdorj Tsakhia said Tuesday in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists’ annual ad rating how close humanity is to committing suicide. He and former Irish President Mary Robinson joined scientists in highlighting what they see as a compilation of various existential threats, most notably the actions and words of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
“People and scientists are warning us and we have to wake up now,” he said.
The advocacy group began in 1947 using a watch to symbolize the potential and likelihood that people would do something to wipe out humanity. It moved the clock 10 seconds closer than last year, making it the closest it has ever come to striking 12. Up to 17 minutes have passed since midnight after the end of the Cold War, but in recent years, the group has changed. from minutes countdown to midnight to seconds countdown.
Judgment day hasn’t happened yet.
“We are sending a message that the situation is becoming more urgent,” the Bulletin’s president, Rachel Bronson, said in the online announcement. “Crises are more likely to occur and have broader consequences and longer-lasting effects.”
And to emphasize the effect the Russian invasion of Ukraine had on approaching the theoretical end of the world, the group said it was also announcing the clock movement in the Russian and Ukrainian languages for the first time.
“Putin has repeatedly raised the specter of nuclear use,” said Steve Fetter, dean of the graduate school and professor of public policy at the University of Maryland.
“Putin has given no indication that he is willing to accept defeat,” Fetter said. “He might make desperate moves if there are no other options available that he deems acceptable.”
Scientists and activists in the Bulletin announcement also mentioned nuclear weapons proliferation in China, Iran increasing its uranium enrichment, missile tests in North Korea, future animal disease pandemics, pathogens from laboratory errors, “disruptive technologies” and worsening climate change as other existential threats. to humanity
