Less than two minutes to end of world

The Doomsday Clock, which indicates how near our planet is to annihilation, stands at 100 seconds to midnight – the closest it has ever been – for the third year in a row
              
Minutes to midnight (doomsday hour)
18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0
                                             
1947, 7 min: Doomsday Clock set up in early days of Cold War

1953, 2 min: U.S. and USSR start testing hydrogen bombs

1960, 7 min: Increased superpower co-operation and public awareness

1968, 7 min: France and China join nuclear club. Wars in Vietnam, Middle East, Indian sub-continent

1981, 4 min: Soviet Union invades Afghanistan

1984, 4 min: U.S.-Soviet relations reach lowest point in decades

1991, 17 min: Cold War ends. U.S. and Russia cut nuclear arsenals

1998, 9 min: India and Pakistan test nuclear weapons

2002, 7 min: Fears of nuclear terrorist attack

2007, 5 min: Threat of new nuclear age; risks from climate change perilous

2020, 100 seconds: Clock at its closest to midnight amid climate, nuclear and cyber warfare concerns

2022, 100 sec: Nuclear, climate and Covid-19 pandemic threats


Source: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Picture: Fabien TWB via Unsplash 
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