90 seconds until nuclear disaster?

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What's the clock?

In 1945, after the bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, scientists at the University of Chicago who developed nuclear weapons as part of the Manhattan Project created the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists magazine. Among its authors and founders was Albert Einstein.

What is the Manhattan Project?

This is the US nuclear weapons program that began in September 1942. Scientists from the USA, Great Britain and Canada, as well as emigrants from Germany, took part in the project. As part of the project, three atomic bombs were created: "Device" (detonated during the first nuclear test), "Baby" (dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945) and "Fat Man" (dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945).

Two years later, the Doomsday Clock, a symbol of international tension, appeared for the first time on the cover of the magazine. Then the hands of the dial froze seven minutes before midnight and showed how close the world was to a catastrophe - a war between powers with nuclear weapons that could destroy all life.

How is the Doomsday Clock translated?

The decision (as a rule, in January) is made by the Board of Directors of the journal with the participation of experts and scientists, including Nobel Prize winners. The clock has been in existence for 75 years, during which time its hands have been moved 25 times.

The clock was farthest from disaster in history after the end of the Cold War in 1991. The arrows on them showed 17 minutes to midnight. Since then, the arrows have been moving forward. There was only a short break from 2010 to 2012, when the US abandoned missile defense systems in Eastern Europe and began negotiations with Moscow to reduce strategic offensive weapons.

In 2020, the clock stopped at a minute and forty seconds before midnight, after Russia and the United States withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which the Soviet Union and the United States signed during perestroika in 1987.

Three years later, the world has moved another 10 seconds closer to Doomsday. Now they show 23:58:30, that is, 90 seconds remain until "nuclear midnight" - according to scientists, the world has never been so close to a cataclysm.

Arrows are moving because of the war?

Yes, the decision was made primarily because of the war in Ukraine, which, according to the authors of the journal, has led to an increase in the risk of nuclear escalation. But not only.

Experts noted that because of the war, the Chernobyl and Zaporozhye nuclear reactors were in the combat zone, which created the risk of a large-scale release of radioactive materials.

Other factors also played a role. For example, the issue of extending the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between Moscow and Washington. It was concluded in 2011, and in 2021 it was extended for five years. If the parties do not resume negotiations, the treaty will end in February 2026, and this, according to experts, "will spur the nuclear arms race and increase the likelihood of a nuclear exchange."

The hands of the clock have also shifted due to the threats posed by the climate crisis and the disruption of "global norms and institutions" needed to mitigate the risks associated with advances in technology and biological threats such as COVID-19.

Rachel Bronson, director of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists , told The Washington Post that moving the arrows is a way to draw the attention of people and world leaders to the fact that humanity is not safe and that ways must be found to contain the crisis. The Doomsday Clock, according to scientists, should serve not only as a warning, but also as a reminder that the hands have already been turned back - and this can be repeated.