What is the Doomsday Clock – from present place to 2026 announcement time
Later this week, a group of well-trained experts will tell the world just how close to all-out annihilation we really are. The Doomsday Clock, run by the non-profit Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, will decide if we are closer than ever before, or if things have calmed slightly since last year’s history announcement – explained below – where the clock’s demonic hands were set at 89 seconds.
The event will be live-streamed, with the Daily Star keeping you up-to-date on all the latest goings on from it, but to get you prepared for the big announcement, we’ve got you covered with all the things you need to know, including what time the live stream takes place.
What is the Doomsday Clock?
The Doomsday Clock is a symbol which represents how close we are to Doomsday – or the likelihood of a man-made global catastrophe. It was created by the non-profit Bulletin of Atomic Scientists in 1947 as a way of showing how close the world was to nuclear war.
The Chicago Atomic Scientists put the clock with its hand set seven minutes to midnight on the cover of their journal, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. The clock shows how close humanity is to “midnight”, or to sealing its dire fate.
Obviously, the further the clock is from midnight, the safer the world is. Since 2007 the clock also takes into account the effect of climate change on the world. Each year the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists meet to decide whether the events of the previous year have pushed humanity closer to the brink of destruction, or further away.
But before you go packing your apocalypse bag, remember the Bulletin has no actual way of knowing how close we are to doom. Instead the clock measures how worried the board members of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists are about a global catastrophe. This is based on the general state of the world.
What time is the announcement?
The live-stream will start at 3pm, although ironically the event is always a few minutes late. It happens inside the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists’ HQ in Washington, DC, with the local time of the grand reveal being 9am.
Who makes the announcement?
In the early days, Bulletin Editor Eugene Rabinowitch decided whether the hand should be moved. When Rabinowitch died in 1973, the Bulletin’s Board handled the responsibility. In 2008, the Science and Security Board was formally separated from the Governing Board and entrusted with the responsibility. Since that time the Science and Security Board has met twice a year to discuss world events and reset the clock as necessary.
The board is made up of scientists and other experts with deep knowledge of nuclear technology and climate science, who often provide expert advice to governments and international agencies.
Included on the team of people deciding is Jill Hruby, the former Under Secretary for Nuclear Security at the Department of Energy, Robert Lattif who is a retired US Air Force major general and adjunct professor at the University of Notre Dame, and Jon Wolfsthal – the director of global risk at the Federation of American Scientists and former national security affairs special assistant to US President Barack Obama.
Current position
It currently stands at 89 seconds, with climate change, war in Europe, Donald Trump and artificial intelligence ruled as the main reasons why it was moved to a historically dangerous level on the clock.
What does it actually mean?
Well, in reality it means very little. If the clock ever hits midnight, it’s not like the world is going to implode – it’s just a fancy way for experts to say “please, lads, can you all stop being idiots?”.
Don’t read too much into it . . .
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