A Chicago-based group of scientists have once again warned the world is closer than ever to human-made destruction by moving the symbolic “Doomsday Clock” up to 85 seconds to midnight.
The clock represents global catastrophe, with midnight symbolizing total destruction. Around this time last year, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Science and Security Board moved up the clock one second to 89 seconds to midnight. Recent events regarding nuclear power, artificial intelligence and biological threats prompted the group to move the clock up four seconds.
“The Doomsday Clock’s message cannot be clearer,” the Bulletin’s CEO Alexandra Bell said in a news release. “Catastrophic risks are on the rise, cooperation is on the decline, and we are running out of time. Change is both necessary and possible, but the global community must demand swift action from their leaders.”
Albert Einstein, J. Robert Oppenheimer and University of Chicago scientists founded the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in 1945, which created the Doomsday Clock two years later to depict the threat to human existence and the planet. The Science and Security Board meets annually to discuss where to set the clock, taking into account a wide range of topics relating to science, politics and social structures.
Bulletin members like Daniel Holz, PhD, professor at the University of Chicago in the departments of physics, astronomy and astrophysics called on global leaders to pay attention to existential threats and take action or reverse course on issues like climate change, artificial intelligence and biological security.
“The dangerous trends in nuclear risk, climate change, disruptive technologies like AI, and bio-security are accompanied by another frightening development: the rise of nationalistic autocracies in countries around the world,” Holz said. “Our greatest challenges require international trust and cooperation, and a world splintering into ‘us versus them’ will leave all of humanity more vulnerable.”
Scientists have also identified ways leaders could improve the world’s outlook — and potentially increase the time until midnight.
The Bulletin recommends the U.S. and Russia should limit nuclear arsenals, along with all nuclear-armed countries observing a ban on explosive nuclear testing. Other recommendations included limiting artificial intelligence, specifically its ability to create biological threats, reversing the Trump administration’s “war on renewable energy” and the U.S., Russia and China agreeing to certain artificial intelligence limits within their armed forces.