Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

On February 6, the team of scientists managing the doomsday clock announced earlier that they had set the doomsday clock forward 10 seconds, meaning there were only 90 seconds left before midnight (human extinction). This is the closest moment to the end of the world in history, and the threat to the survival of mankind is even greater than that of the Cold War.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the climate crisis and biological threats such as the COVID-19 epidemic are the main causes, which have brought the doomsday clock closer than ever to the moment of human extinction, including at the height of the Cold War, according to the Journal of Atomic scientists.

Rachel Bronson, president and chief executive of the Bulletin of Atomic scientists, said: "We live in an unprecedented dangerous era, and the change in the doomsday clock reflects this reality. Our experts will not make such a decision easily. We urge leaders to do their best to explore all ways to turn back time."

The doomsday clock was created for BAS by artist Martyl Langsdorf in 1947, and her husband, Alexander, helped invent the atomic bomb as a physicist on the Manhattan Project. The doomsday clock was originally conceived as a means to send a clear signal to the public about the existential threat posed by nuclear weapons to the world. 12: 00 midnight symbolizes the outbreak of nuclear war, when there are still seven minutes to midnight. During the Cold War standoff between the United States and the former Soviet Union, the pointer was two minutes from midnight.

In 2007, the countdown to the doomsday clock expanded to include all man-made threats to survival, adding factors such as climate change, artificial intelligence, war and global pandemics. For the past three years, the apocalypse has remained 100 seconds before midnight, hovering at the closest point to human extinction. Now, because of the growing risk of conflict between Russia and Ukraine, it is one step closer to midnight.

The Bulletin of Atomic scientists was founded in 1945 by physicists such as well-known physicists Albert Einstein (Albert Einstein) and Robert Oppenheimer (Robert Oppenheimer), also known as the father of the atomic bomb. The establishment of the Bulletin of Atomic scientists was inspired by the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States that year.

In order to determine the annual movement of the clock hands, the Science and Security Committee of the Bulletin of Atomic scientists meets twice a year, with the participation of 18 experts from the fields of diplomacy, nuclear science, climate change, destructive technology and the military, discuss the threat that mankind poses to itself. In order to assess these risks, members of the Scientific and Security Committee consult with colleagues in their respective fields and the sponsors' committee of the Bulletin before agreeing on the final location of the clock.

The hands of the doomsday clock have been reversed before, especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the signing of the Strategic Arms reduction Treaty in 1991, the clock was set back to 17 minutes from midnight.

"the doomsday clock is a wake-up call for all mankind: we are on the brink of a cliff," Mary Robinson, president of the human rights group The Elders and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement. "but our leaders have not acted fast enough to ensure that the earth continues to be a peaceful and habitable planet."

Robinson added: "from cutting carbon emissions to strengthening arms control treaties to investing in pandemic prevention, we know what needs to be done. Science has given clear guidance, but lacks political will. If we are to avoid disaster, that must change in 2023. We are facing multiple existential crises. Leaders need a crisis mindset."

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