What is an apocalypse or doomsday clock and what does it mean? What time does it mark and what happens at 12 o’clock?

(CNN) — The Doomsday Clock, also known as the “Doomsday Clock”, has been ticking for 77 years. But it’s not just any watch.

On Tuesday, January 23, 2024, the clock was reset to 90 seconds from midnight, the closest it has ever been, according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, which made it in 1947. Midnight represents the time in which people would have made clocks. The earth is deserted.

Last year, the clock was set 90 seconds to midnight, mainly due to the growing threat of Russian aggression and nuclear proliferation in the bulletin.

From 2020 to 2022, the clock was set 100 seconds to midnight.

According to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, the clock is not designed to explicitly measure existential risks, but to communicate difficult scientific topics such as climate change.

The decision to keep the clocks set to the same time this year was largely driven by ongoing concerns about the war in Ukraine, the conflict between Israel and Gaza, the prospect of a nuclear arms race and the climate crisis, Rachel Bronson, president and CEO of the newsletter, announced the time at a press conference. .

“Trends continue to point ominously toward a global catastrophe,” Bronson added. “The war in Ukraine poses the ever-present threat of nuclear escalation. And the attack on Israel on October 7 and the war in Gaza underscore the horrors of modern warfare even without nuclear escalation.”

“Nuclear-armed countries are engaged in modernization programs that threaten to create a new nuclear arms race,” Bronson said. “Earth experienced its hottest year on record and has suffered massive floods, fires and other climate-related disasters. And lack of action on climate change puts billions of lives and livelihoods at risk,” he added.

Bronson cited recent developments in artificial intelligence as another concern, saying they “raise different questions about how to control a technology that can enhance or threaten civilization in countless ways.”

(Credit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/File)

What is a doomsday clock?

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists was a group of atomic scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project, the code name for the development of the atomic bomb during World War II.

It was originally conceived to measure nuclear risks, but in 2007 the Bulletin decided to include climate change in its calculations.

Over the past three-quarters of a century, the time on the clock has changed, depending on how close scientists believe the complete annihilation of the human race is. Some years the weather changes, and others it doesn’t.

The Doomsday Clock is set each year by experts from the Bulletin’s Science and Security Council in consultation with its board of sponsors, which includes 11 Nobel laureates.

Although the clock is an effective wake-up call to remind us of the cascading crisis facing the planet, some have questioned the usefulness of the 75-year-old clock.

Lawrence Krause, a former member of the Bulletin’s Board of Sponsors, said that even though time has passed since the clock began ticking, its results are hard to take seriously, as it has come closer to the end of the clock in recent decades. Culture.

As a theoretical physicist, Krause is concerned with how clocks are evaluated and determined today. Each year, he said, as the clock approaches midnight, scientists have to measure how much available “space” is left before deciding how much further to move the clock forward.

“Now the clock is ticking in seconds, it used to be minutes,” Krause told CNN. “It is clear that it is not a quantitative scientific assessment, but a qualitative assessment. What has always been important is the movement of the clock, not its absolute value.”

What happens if the clock strikes midnight?

The clock never reached midnight, and Bulletin President and CEO Rachel Bronson hopes it never does.

“When the clock strikes midnight, it means there has been some kind of nuclear exchange or catastrophic climate change that has wiped out humanity,” he says. “So we never want to get there and we don’t know when we will.”

How accurate is the watch?

The clock is not meant to measure threats, but to spur negotiations and encourage public engagement on scientific issues like climate change and nuclear disarmament.

If the watch is able to do that, Bronson considers it a success.

People listen when the clock is set to a new time, he said. In 2021, during the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow, then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson mentioned the doomsday clock while discussing the world’s climate crisis, Bronson noted.

Bronson said he hopes people will discuss whether they agree with his decision and have a productive conversation about what the driving forces for change are.

It’s still possible to turn back the clock with bold, concrete actions. In fact, in 1991 when President George HW Bush’s administration signed a strategic arms reduction treaty with the Soviet Union, the hands moved before midnight, reaching 17 minutes before midnight. In 2016, the clock was three minutes past midnight as a result of the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate agreement.

What can one do to turn back the clock?

Don’t underestimate the power of talking about these important issues with your peers, Bronson said.

“You might not feel it because you’re not doing anything, but we know that public engagement (a) motivates a leader to do things,” he said.

When it comes to climate change, look at your daily habits and see if you can make small changes in your life, like walking more often instead of driving and what you use to keep your home warm, Bronson explained.