Doomsday Clock nears apocalypse

The Doomsday Clock – which indicates how close our planet is to catastrophe – is now only 100 seconds away from midnight. The clock now stands at its closest to the apocalypse since it began ticking in 1947


1945: Scientists working on Manhattan Project – developing world’s first nuclear weapons – create Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists of Chicago (BAS)

1947: BAS launches Doomsday Clock

2020: 100 seconds to midnight. Humanity faces two existential dangers – nuclear war and climate change – compounded by cyber-based disinformation


UPS AND DOWNS SINCE 1947

1947: Doomsday Clock introduced
1953: U.S. and Soviet Union start testing hydrogen bombs
1984: U.S.-Soviet relations reach lowest point in decades
1991: Cold War officially ends 
U.S. and Russia cut nuclear arsenals. Clock stands at 17 minutes to midnight


0 minutes to midnight (doomsday hour)
1 
2 							2019
3 	1949						2015
4 				1981
5 						2007	2012
6 				1988			2010
7		1960	1968	1980		2002
8			1969	
9			1974		1998	
10				1990
11
12		1963	1972
13
14					1995
15
16
17
18
	1950 	1960 	1970 	1980 	1990	2000	2010 	2020


Source: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
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