Yesterday, the annual reveal of the Doomsday Clock was streamed live via YouTube. Check out the video below on how close we are to midnight in 2022.
In 1947, Atomic Scientists created the Doomsday Clock, a metaphor for the looming apocalypse: The more serious threats to humanity and the planet become, the closer the arms of the clock advance to midnight or doomsday. The Doomsday Clock is set every year by the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board in consultation with its Board of Sponsors, which includes 11 Nobel laureates. The Clock has become a universally recognized indicator of the world’s vulnerability to catastrophe from nuclear weapons, climate change, and disruptive technologies in other domains.
Another factor that moved us even closer to twelve o’clock during the past two years is the sharp increase in global poverty due to the Covid-19 crisis. The World Bank estimates that about 97 million more people are living on less than $1.90 a day because of the pandemic.
If you watch the full live stream, make sure to also check out what Hank Green has to say on tackling global crises. Many of these problems can seem quite overwhelming to us individuals, so it’s important to take small steps and to look at one problem at a time.