90 seconds to midnight

The Doomsday Clock, indicating how near humanity is to annihilation, has moved closer than ever to midnight, largely as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine


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

1984, 3 min
U.S.-Soviet relations reach lowest point in decades

1991, 17 min
Cold War ends
    
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

2022, 100 sec 
Closest to midnight for third successive year amid nuclear, climate and Covid-19 threats

2023, 90 sec
Mounting nuclear risk in Ukraine war
   

Source: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Picture: Newscom 
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