Three. Two. One. Boom?
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists said the “Doomsday Clock” remains at three minutes to midnight. The Bulletin was founded in 1945 by scientists working with the Manhattan Project. Today, the organization is a nonprofit that assesses scientific advancements, the changing energy landscape, climate change, and the state of nuclear weapons and disarmament.
Their goal? Contextualize the possibility of nuclear war, through their given assessment, and influence policies to “protect our planet and all its inhabitants.”
The “Doomsday Clock” was set to three minutes to midnight in 2015 because of “unchecked climate change, global nuclear weapons modernizations, and outsized nuclear weapons arsenals,” that “pose extraordinary and undeniable threats to the continued existence of humanity.”
You might be wondering, ‘Is three minutes to midnight the closest we’ve been?’” In 1953, “after much debate, the United States decides to pursue the hydrogen bomb, a weapon far more powerful than any atomic bomb,” that placed us two minutes to midnight.
To see a timeline of the “Doomsday Clock,” visit their website.