Russia-Ukraine War pushes ‘Doomsday Clock’ closest point to midnight in history, scientists say

The ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia has pushed the “doomsday clock” back to just 90 seconds before midnight – the closest point to the Holocaust in history.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which unveiled the updated clock on Tuesday, said the Russia-Ukraine war has played an important role in upsetting global stability.

“Russia’s finely veiled threats to use nuclear weapons remind the world that the escalation of conflict – by accident, intent or miscalculation – is a terrible risk,” the bulletin said in a statement. Control remains high.”

“We are really close to that doomsday,” Mongolian President Elbegdorj Sakhia said Tuesday in the annual Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announcing ratings. He and former Irish President Mary Robinson joined scientists to outline the actions of Russian leader Vladimir Putin and the many existential threats it poses, with key words among them.

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“People and scientists are warning us and we have to wake up now,” he said.

The Doomsday Clock is a symbol created in 1947 at the beginning of the Cold War to represent the threat of nuclear weapons, which the Bulletin says have the potential to destroy civilization as we know it.

The bulletin has advanced the clock 10 seconds closer than last year, bringing it the closest it has come to 12 o’clock. It has been 17 minutes to midnight since the end of the Cold War, but over the years, the group has changed from counting the minutes to counting the seconds until midnight.

Last August, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the world “has not seen a time of nuclear threat since the height of the Cold War.”

Siegfried Hecker with the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, from left, Daniel Holz, Sharon Squassoni, Mary Robinson and Elbegdorg Sakhia, a cloth covering the doomsday clock before a virtual news conference at the National Press Club in Washington on Tuesday, Jan. 24 Let’s remove , 2023.
(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

“We are sending a message that the situation is becoming more urgent,” Rachel Bronson, president of the Bulletin, said in the online announcement. “Crisis is more likely to happen and have wider consequences and longer-lasting effects.”

Underscoring the larger role Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought closer to the theoretical holocaust, the bulletin said it is also announcing the movement of the clock in Russian and Ukrainian languages ​​for the first time.

Scientists and activists in the bulletin announced nuclear weapons proliferation in China, increased uranium enrichment in Iran, missile testing in North Korea, future epidemics of animal diseases, pathogens from laboratory mistakes, “disruptive technologies” and other existential threats. Also mentioned the worsening climate change. For humanity.

The bulletin called on the US, its NATO allies and Ukraine to explore all options to defuse the conflict with Russia.

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“Finding a path to serious peace talks can go a long way in reducing the risk of escalation,” the bulletin said. “At this time of unprecedented global threat, concerted action is needed, and every second counts.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.