This is a «time of unprecedented danger,» leading figures said as the time on the Doomsday Clock was changed.
The world is the «closest to global catastrophe it has ever been,» leading scientists announced on Tuesday as the Doomsday Clock was updated for the first time following the outbreak of the Ukraine war.
On Tuesday, the Doomsday Clock, which is a visual representation of how close humanity is thought to be to self-destruction, was set to 90 seconds to midnight. The time of midnight is «apocalypse» imagery, according to the Clock’s creators, used to «convey threats to humanity and the planet.»
Moving the clock from 100 seconds to midnight, as it has been since 2020, to 90 seconds was «largely, though not exclusively, because of the mounting dangers in the war in Ukraine,» the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists said as the clock’s time was unveiled.
«We move the clock forward, the closest it has ever been to midnight,» the Board announced.
