"Unprecedented level of danger": Meaning explored as Atomic Scientists Doomsday Clock is set at 90 seconds to midnight 

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists have set the annual Doomsday Clock’s hands at 90 seconds to midnight. Scientists claim that the clock’s hands have shifted drastically due to the impending danger of a new nuclear arms race, climate change, and the threats of Artificial Intelligence. In a post on X, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists page uploaded a picture of the clock with the caption:

"Today, the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board once again sets the #DoomsdayClock at 90 seconds to midnight. Humanity continues to face an unprecedented level of danger."

The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic timepiece that warns humanity about edging nearer to the destruction of the world “with dangerous technologies of our own making.” The organization revealed on Tuesday that China, Russia, and the U.S. were spending lumpsums of money to “expand or modernise their nuclear arsenals” which pose a risk of nuclear war, either by “mistake or miscalculation.”

The Bulletin also shared that the war in Ukraine, alongside Israel’s nuclear arms potentially being used in their conflict with Gaza played a role in the change in the clock.

Scientists also cited the lack of action on climate change and the risks of misusing biological technologies and AI tools as reasons for the change in the Doomsday Clock.

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Who created the Doomsday Clock revealed as timer inches closer to midnight

According to the Bulletin’s Instagram page, the Doomsday Clock was created by artist Martyl Langsdorf after being asked to make a cover design in 1947, two years after it was founded by scientist J Robert Oppenheimer and fellow experts upon seeing the devastating effects of the atom bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They wanted to put pressure on global leaders to ensure that nuclear weapons were never used again.

The Bulletin revealed that their Science and Security Board set the clock annually. According to BBC, the hands of the clock have been moved 25 times so far. It was first moved in 1947 as it was set seven minutes until midnight. Following the end of the Cold War in 1991, the clock was set 17 minutes until midnight.

The clock remained at 90 seconds until midnight, both in 2023 and this year, as per the Bulletin.

Speaking about the possibility of Russia and Israel using nuclear weapons and it posing as a threat to the world, Rachel Bronson, the Bulletin’s president and CEO said in an interview with Reuters:

“A durable end to Russia’s war in Ukraine seems distant, and the use of nuclear weapons by Russia in that conflict remains a serious possibility. In the past year Russia has sent numerous worrying nuclear signals… As a nuclear state, Israel’s actions are clearly relevant to the Doomsday Clock discussion. Of particular worry is that the conflict might escalate more broadly in the region, creating a larger conventional war and drawing more nuclear powers or near-nuclear powers.”

BBC revealed that despite the presence of numerous arms control agreements, there are about 13,000 nuclear warheads globally, with the majority being in Russia and America.

Speaking about the concerns of global warming, Bronson noted:

“The world in 2023 entered into uncharted territory as it suffered its hottest year on record and global greenhouse gas emissions continued to rise. Both global and North Atlantic sea-surface temperatures broke records, and Antarctic sea ice reached its lowest daily extent since the advent of satellite data.”

According to News18, $1.7 trillion dollars were invested into the creation of clean energy, yet the efforts in mitigating climate change are still “grossly insufficient.”