president who acknowledges climate change as a profound threat and supports international cooperation and science-based policy puts the world on a better footing to address global problems. "But amid the gloom, we see some positive developments. But COVID-19 will not obliterate civilization, and we expect the disease to recede eventually," the statement read. "Still, the pandemic serves as a historic wake-up call, a vivid illustration that national governments and international organizations are unprepared to manage nuclear weapons and climate change, which currently pose existential threats to humanity, or the other dangers - including more virulent pandemics and next-generation warfare - that could threaten civilization in the near future."ĭespite these existential concerns, though, the BAS attributed their decision to keep the Clock where it is for another year to a sense of seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Its consequences are grave and will be lasting. "Though lethal on a massive scale, this particular pandemic is not an existential threat. The statement also, predictably, spent a lot of time discussing the pandemic, which the BAS called a major wake-up call moment for world leaders. In their statement outlining the decision, the BAS cited everything from "accelerating nuclear programs in multiple countries" to a failure to "sufficiently address climate change" to "the continued corruption of the information ecosphere" as reasons for keeping the Clock where it stands.
That's the same position the Clock was placed in last year, and the closest it has ever been to midnight, but under the circumstances the lack of forward movement is cause for at least a little optimism. The BAS released its annual statement earlier this week and announced that the Clock, created in 1947 and updated every January, will continued to stand at 100 Seconds to Midnight in 2021. That said, it wouldn't be moving further away from midnight either, but we'll take the wins where we can get them. To say 2020 was A Lot is quite an understatement.Īnd yet, this week the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced that the Doomsday Clock - their visual metaphor used to "convey threats to humanity and the planet" - will not be moving closer to midnight this year. Capitol, disinformation out of control, continued nuclear tension abroad and, oh yeah, the global pandemic that's killed more than 2 million people so far. We had wildfires, hurricanes, police brutality and protests in response to it, extremists storming the U.S. Jerry Brown, who is the executive chairman of the Bulletin of Scientists.There were a lot of points in the last 12 months that, whether our minds exaggerated them or not, certainly felt like we were inching closer to the apocalypse. Latiff was scheduled to speak at Thursday's event along with former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland, and former California Gov. It is urgent that we collectively work to reduce the instability that causes,” Robert Latiff, a member of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists and an adjunct professor at the University of Notre Dame’s Reilly Center for Science, Technology and Values, said in a statement. “We are living in a period of great uncertainty caused by both technology and failures of leadership.
In January 2019, the atomic scientific group decided not to move the minute hand, a year after it adjusted the clock ahead 30 seconds. By undermining cooperative science and law-based approaches to managing the most urgent threats to humanity, leaders have help to create a situation that will if unaddressed lead to catastrophe sooner rather than later."
ATOMIC SCIENTISTS DOOMSDAY CLOCK VERIFICATION
She went on, "Both the nuclear and climate conditions are worsening, and we note that over the last two years we have seen influential leaders denigrate and discard the most effective methods for addressing complex threats - international agreements with strong verification regimes - in favor of their own narrow interests and domestic political gain.
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