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The Doomsday Clock is at 100 seconds to midnight once again

100 Seconds to Midnight: Man-Made Apocalypse Closer Than Ever

Earth is closer to a catastrophic global demise than ever before, with the famous Doomsday Clock of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists being at 100 seconds to midnight.

The Doomsday Clock was first created in 1947 as a metaphorical countdown to the end of the world as we know it. Specifically, it refers to the impending global disaster that is solely caused by human hands, and it is adjusted every January upon review by scientists from the Bulletin.

Originally, the biggest factor at play in evaluating how close humanity is to its end was a nuclear apocalypse. This makes sense, considering it was formed right after nuclear bombs ended World War II and right before the arms race of the Cold War started. In fact, the record for the closest the Doomsday Clock had been to disaster used to be in 1953, set two minutes to midnight, when the US and Soviet Union both started to test hydrogen bombs.

Nowadays, it isn't just nuclear weapons that the Bulletin is concerned with. While the case in 2018 shows that nuclear weapons are far from irrelevant in the chance that humanity can thrust itself into a global armageddon, it is likely the fastest way humans can do so.

Several other issues are also factored into these estimates. Specifically, the factors nowadays that are being factored in are, aside from nuclear weapons, COVID-19, climate change, and disruptive technologies.

"The dangerous rivalry and hostility among the superpowers increase the likelihood of nuclear blunder," Bulletin executive chairman Jerry Brown said. "Climate change just compounds the crisis. If there's ever a time to wake up, it's now." (JPost / VFI News)