The 2017 edition of the Doomsday Clock is scarier than last year’s version of it.
The concept was created by scientists as a way of measuring the possibility of global disaster, whether it be related to warfare, an environmental crisis or a natural phenomenon that could spell the end of the world. Here are 10 things you should know about it:
- The Doomsday Clock strikes midnight when disaster is happening as a symbolic measure. Russia testing hydrogen bombs in 1953 is the closest we’ve gotten to midnight.
- There is no science or quantitative information surrounding the clock’s movement as it is purely symbolic and determined by scientists.
- The device moved closer to midnight recently due to the time we live in, which includes climate change deniers in top positions of government.
- “We’re so concerned about the rhetoric, and the lack of respect for expertise, that we moved it 30 seconds,” she said. “Rather than create panic, we’re hoping that this drives action,” said a person involved with the movement of the Doomsday Clock.
- President Trump’s comments on both the future of environmental practices and nuclear weapons moved the clock.
- It is the first time that the device has been moved due to the statements of a single person.
- In 1990, the clock was 10 minutes to midnight, but it was moved back by nearly eight minutes the following year, once the Iron Curtain fell.
What are your thoughts on the Doomsday Clock?
