This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Doomsday Clock and another year sitting at 100 seconds to midnight, the closest the clock has been to ‘Doomsday’ since its debut in 1947.

Created by the organisation known as the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists as a reminder to convey how close humanity can get to destroying itself, the clock has since become an international symbol of the vulnerability of the world to catastrophe.

The Bulletin was founded in 1945 with the belief that, since humans created many of the problems threatening our own existence, we have the obligation and opportunity to fix them.

The farthest from midnight (aka 'doomsday') the clock hands have been set was 17 minutes in 1991, following the end of the cold war in 1989, when the United States and the Soviet Union signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, reducing their nuclear weapon arsenals for the first time.

In its annual Doomsday Clock statement released yesterday, Thursday 20th January the Bulletin stated, “The Doomsday clock is a symbol of danger, of hope, of caution, and of our responsibility to one another.”

Set each year by the Bulletin’s Science and Security board, the clock’s time is based on continuing and emerging threats posed by nuclear weapons, climate change, disruptive technologies, and most recently biological threats, including the Covid-19 pandemic.

With increased concern regarding the international community’s ability to handle global emergencies, the clock changed from 2 minutes to midnight in 2018 to 100 seconds in 2020 and has not shifted even a second since.

“The Clock remains the closest it has ever been to civilization-ending apocalypse because the world remains stuck in an extremely dangerous moment,” The Bulletin explained.

“In 2019 we called it the new abnormal, and it has unfortunately persisted…Global leaders and the public are not moving with anywhere near the speed or unity needed to prevent disaster.”

US relations with Russia and China remain tense, with all three countries engaged in an array of nuclear modernization and expansion efforts that could mark the start of a dangerous new nuclear arms race.

Additionally, a huge gap still exists between long-term greenhouse gas-reduction pledges and the near and medium-term emission-reduction actions needed to achieve those goals.

The most recent biological threat, the Covid-19 pandemic, has highlighted the vulnerabilities in every country and the international community’s ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from infectious disease outbreaks.

Each of these threats have been exacerbated due to widespread misinformation and disinformation brought on by technology.

“Technology has contributed to an environment in which no conceivable evidence or rational argument can persuade true believers to change their minds,” said Herb Lin, senior research scholar for cyber policy and security at the Centre for International Security and Cooperation, and member of the Bulletin Science and Security Board.

“The resulting fractures in our common understanding of what is true translate into a nation sharply divided against itself.”

However, every problem has a solution, therefore the Bulletin’s 2022 Doomsday Clock Statement also includes a list of key recommendations to reverse the hands of the Doomsday Clock.

While many of the recommendations are directed towards world leaders and government bodies, there are some takeaways for the everyday person to consider. Some examples include:

• "Private and public investors should redirect funds away from fossil fuel projects to climate-friendly investments.
• Governments, technology firms, academic experts, and media organizations should co-operate to identify and implement practical and ethical ways to combat internet-enabled misinformation and disinformation.
• At every reasonable opportunity, citizens of all countries should hold their local, regional, and national political officials and business and religious leaders accountable by asking “What are you doing to address climate change?”

For the clock’s 75th anniversary, the Bulletin also created the #TurnBackTheCLock challenge, encouraging people to use social media to share their stories and strategies of how we can work together to save the world.

Despite being a metaphorical countdown to our self-destruction, the Doomsday Clock is also a reminder of the issues we currently face and the responsibility we all have to push for a safer, more secure future.

If there is one thing the last two years sitting at 100 seconds to midnight has taught us, it’s that the doorstep of doom is no place to loiter.

Click HERE to find out more about the Doomsday Clock and it’s observations and recommendations regarding current international threats.