Contrary to popular belief, this clock does not actually tell the time. The Doomsday Clock is a metaphorical measure that represents how close the world is to self-destruction, due to nuclear weapons, disruption of peace, and climate change. Some describe the clock as how many “minutes to midnight” we are from total man-made apocalypse, and it’s much scarier than it seems.
The clock hands are set by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a group formed by the USA’s nuclear weaponry programme – the Manhattan Project – at the University of Chicago. This group of scientists are the people who helped build the atomic bomb, but they have realized the true danger of it and therefore made the doomsday clock to protest its use against people.
WHAT ARE THE ORIGINS OF THE CLOCK?
The origins of the clock date back to 1947 when the symbol was created, and the hands on the clock are updated every year, intending to warn the public and inspire action. The placement of the hands is based off the threat posed by nuclear weapons, which the Bulletin consider to be the greatest threat to humanity. More recently, in 2007, the climate crisis was included in the deliberations.
Sadly, the clock is hardly represented as a full circle, as the furthest the clock has been set back was 17 minutes from midnight. Instead, the clock is show as a third or even a quarter in many representations, displaying the true danger we are facing since the creation of these weapons.
The furthest from destruction we’ve been occurred in 1991 after the collapse of the USSR and the signing of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Until recently, the closest the clock has been set was in 1953 when the US and the USSR were both testing their first thermonuclear weapons.
However, the clock time set for 2020 and 2021 came as no shock, at the closest it has ever been to midnight. Just 100 seconds. This is due to a combination of political and social unrest, nuclear weapons testing, and the imminent threat of climate change.
How could anyone let this come about?
Many scientists were aware during the time of the Manhattan Project just how bad this news was for the security of humanity. Scientists Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard both wrote to President Franklin Roosevelt in 1939 warning him of a potential atomic bomb. 6 years later the US dropped two atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Szilard called it “one of the greatest blunders in history”. The Bulletin was adopted soon after to combat the threat of nuclear annihilation.
The Bulletin have been functioning for 75 years and continue as a non-profit organization striving to inform the public about man-made threats.
Here is a fantastic animation of the clock over the years and the reasons behind the time.
Originally, the Bulletin meetings were a collection of research papers and articles. Artist Martyl Langsdorf agreed to produce an illustration that was minimalist and memorable, the clock, which was then adopted as the symbol and adjusted year by year. The clock is located in the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy.
What happens when the Clock hits midnight?
According to the Bulletin director, originally it would be the moment nuclear retaliation occurred that would have large-scale consequences for humanity and the planet. However, since climate change has been introduced into the picture, it’s harder to denote a particular thing that would happen. Instead, climate change in the sense of when we go past a tipping point that we could not go back from, rather than the actual direct climate destruction (e.g., the world temperatures rising by more than 1.5-2°C).
The Clock is not made to make you scared, although total man-made apocalypse is a terrifying prospect. It is made to spur people into action, and it’s something that all of us can help address. Chair of the science and security board Rosner said “Past experience has taught us, even during the most dismal periods of the Cold War, we can as a people come together to address our challenges”.
Here is the “current time” for 2021, and the bulletin’s address to the planet.
References:
Comments