2d ago

'Doomsday Clock' moves closer to midnight amid threats of climate change, nuclear war, pandemics, AI

apnews.com 'Doomsday Clock' moves closer to midnight amid threats of climate change, nuclear war, pandemics, AI

A science-oriented advocacy group says the Earth is moving closer to destruction. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists said Tuesday that they've moved their “Doomsday Clock” to 89 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever been, because of worsening threats ranging from nuclear war to climate cha

Summary

The "Doomsday Clock" has been moved to 89 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever been, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

The group cited threats including climate change, nuclear proliferation, the war in Ukraine, pandemics, and the integration of AI into military operations.

Concerns about cooperation between Russia, China, and North Korea on nuclear programs and the potential use of nuclear weapons by Russia were highlighted.

The group urged global leaders to collaborate in addressing existential threats to reverse the clock's progression.

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56 comments

The doomsday clock is goofy. What benefit is there to setting an arbitrary value on a bad-o-meter?
- To try and get people to do something. Anything. Nothing else is working.
  
  You say that as if the doomsday clock is working.
  
  At least they're trying.
  
  As your other reply illustrates, Don't Look Up is a bit too on the nose for comfort.
  
  Sometimes "trying" is counter productive.
- This was started nearly a century ago by scientists after the creation of the atomic bomb a couple years after the end of WW2.
  The point is mostly to say "hey, we have the technology to blow up the world and things do not not seem to be going well". They actually give out an annual report every year explaining their reasoning.
  In setting the Clock one second closer to midnight, we send a stark signal: Because the world is already perilously close to the precipice, a move of even a single second should be taken as an indication of extreme danger and an unmistakable warning that every second of delay in reversing course increases the probability of global disaster.
  Essentially- we are closer than ever to a global war between nuclear powers.
  In regard to nuclear risk, the war in Ukraine, now in its third year, looms over the world; the conflict could become nuclear at any moment because of a rash decision or through accident or miscalculation. Conflict in the Middle East threatens to spiral out of control into a wider war without warning. The countries that possess nuclear weapons are increasing the size and role of their arsenals, investing hundreds of billions of dollars in weapons that can destroy civilization. The nuclear arms control process is collapsing, and high-level contacts among nuclear powers are totally inadequate given the danger at hand.
  Now someone may say "Closer than ever?? What about the Cuban Missile Crisis?"
  The thing is, we have been developing newer and "less dangerous" nuclear weapons. Tactical bombs that won't leave the traditional nuclear fallout. This creates a sort of itchy trigger finger syndrome. After the Cold War, we created nuclear arms control treaties between the US and Russia. These are collapsing. Both the US and Russia are complicit in this.
  If anybody wants to read more https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/2025-statement/
  But to tldr:
  The world is in a chaotic period of time. Fascism seems to be taking hold again, the economy is on the edge of collapse, and war remains an ever-present threat. Any war between great powers (US, China, Russia) would certainly mean nuclear disaster.
  The point is that we are vulnerable right now. Any push could shove us tumbling down the hill. Diplomatic crisis, another pandemic, economic crash, a regional war, etc. Any of those could be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
  I have a lot of respect for the Bulletin Board of Atomic Scientists. We need these types of organizations to remind people of the danger we are currently in. We become desensitized because of the constant barrage of "historic news" but they're going to look back on this period similarly to the decade before WW2, I believe.
- It's especially stupid as a clock whose time is continually stopped, and whose time is either adjusted forward a few seconds or backward a few seconds every few years. That metaphor just makes no sense.
  Some arbitrary score out of 100 would make as little sense, but at least it wouldn't involve a strange nonsensical metaphor.
  The concept they're really trying to communicate is better illustrated by the Sword of Damocles. It's a danger that's always looming that could turn into disaster at any time. But, nobody knows exactly when. If they switched to using a Sword of Damocles metaphor, they could talk about strands in the rope holding the sword getting frayed or breaking. Like, one strand represents the environment. One represents the possibility of nuclear war. One represents global health and pandemics. When something good happens, like an environmental treaty, they could talk about how that strand was being repaired.
  
  It is a more accurate and more versatile metaphor.
  However, even the stupidest of people know what a clock is, if not how they work. "It's almost midnight" is about as much nuance as is consumable by the masses.
  
  Except every year it's "It's almost midnight".
  
  But it is a different "almost".
  
  Midnight does happen once a year
  
  At least

56 comments