Teh “Doomsday Clock,” a metaphor for how close humanity is to self-annihilation, was moved to 85 seconds to midnight Tuesday, its closest point to catastrophe since the clock debuted nearly 80 years ago.
“Humanity has not made sufficient progress on the existential risks that endanger us all,” said Alexandra Bell, president and CEO of the bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
The risks humanity faces from nuclear weapons, climate change and disruptive technologies are growing, Bell said. “Every second counts, and we are running out of time,” she said.
Last year, the Bulletin set the clock at 89 seconds to midnight, its previous closest setting to midnight.
Daniel Holz, the chair of the Bulletin’s science and security board that sets the “Doomsday Clock” and a physics professor at the University of Chicago, said major countries became more aggressive, adversarial and nationalistic in the past year.
Holz also noted that a 2010 strategic arms treaty between the U.S. and Russia is set to expire next week.
“For the first time in over half a century,there will be nothing preventing a runaway nuclear arms race,” Holz said.
