Well, we’ve had a good run, you guys. Global warming is melting the poles causing mass extinction. International politics have become increasingly tense. One cannot watch the news or read the paper without learning of a new tragedy claiming the lives of hundreds of people. And now, the Doomsday Clock, counting down the extinction of man, has been adjusted to 3 minutes until midnight. It’s been real, y’all.
Created in 1947 by members of the Science and Security Board of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the Doomsday Clock was originally placed at 11:53PM. These members were the same scientists who participated in the Manhattan Project, which produced the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The symbolic clock is meant to convey threats to both humanity and the planet. While originally meant to convey the likelihood of global nuclear war, the Doomsday Clock also now takes into affect climate change, and its effects on the planet.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists explained their reasoning for the adjusted time by stating, “In 2015, unchecked climate change, global nuclear weapons modernizations, and outsized nuclear weapons arsenals pose extraordinary and undeniable threats to the continued existence of humanity, and world leaders have failed to act with the speed or on the scale required to protect citizens from potential catastrophe. These failures of political leadership endanger every person on Earth.”
1991 was the best year for humanity since the Doomsday Clock began as the clock was set to 11:43PM, or 17 minutes from midnight. The group saw the official end of the Cold War, and the United States and the Soviet Union signing the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty as great progress towards a more peaceful world. Unfortunately, the clock has been ticking closer and closer towards midnight ever since, apart from 2010 when the clock was moved 1 minute farther from disaster.
As the group said in a statement, “The threat is serious, the time short. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists does not move the hands of the Doomsday Clock for light or transient reasons. The clock ticks now at just three minutes to midnight because international leaders are failing to perform their most important duty—ensuring and preserving the health and vitality of human civilization.”
So basically, say your goodbyes now. The end is nigh.
