The Doomsday Clock will update this afternoon for 2024.
Last year's unveiling saw the symbolic clock tick closer to midnight after remaining unchanged for the previous three years. The hands were reset to just 90 seconds to 12 "largely (though not exclusively) because of the mounting dangers of the war in Ukraine".
Before then the world had consistently been 100 seconds away from "midnightâ â the hour of apocalypse â since 2020, the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic. Further destabilising events have rocked the world since then, from Russia's invasion of Ukraine to the ongoing war in Gaza. The clock will be updated in a Tuesday morning (3pm GMT) ceremony at the Keller Centre at the University of Chicago.
Follow our live blog below...
The Doomsday Clock has struck 90 seconds to midnight, the same as it was last year.
Doomsday Clock now 90 seconds away from apocalypse as world on edge of disaster
The Bulletin said that the action it urged last year has not been properly acted upon, and that the threat remains unacceptably high and continues "with unabated ferocity".
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists will be revealing how close to armageddon we are in a matter of minutes. Stick with our live blog to find out as it happens.
The Doomsday Clock before today's live-streamed event (Getty Images)A nuclear weapons expert, Dr Pavel Podvig, said that an all out nuclear armageddon is a "truly terrifying prospect", and must be ruled out.
Speaking to the Sun, he said: "The number of nuclear weapons that exist, they would have the potential to end the life as we know it, and the numbers are truly terrifying.
"It runs from the tens of millions of people dead in that in the matter of hours. And I've seen estimates that suggest that the consequences, like the nuclear winter, would could lead to the death of billions of people.
"I've seen the simulations and estimates, and the numbers, and there could be 40 to 50 million people dead in the matter of a couple of hours.
"So it is [a] truly terrifying prospect... That's something we want to rule out to make sure that this could never happen."
While this time of “unprecedented danger” will give many nightmares, there are those who say the clock has had its day and the hands should be stopped completely because it is nothing but a PR stunt and based on guesswork, not scientific evidence.
Some point to inconsistencies in how it is calculated and how it has changed over the years to include other issues the world is facing. Why some events move it closer than others is never properly revealed and they say changing methods during studies means the results don’t make sense.
In 1991, the Doomsday Clock rested at 17 minutes away from midnight, the furthest it had ever been set.
Four biggest threats to humanity as Doomsday Clock ticks closer to midnight
This came after the Soviet Union collapsed and a groundbreaking arms reduction treaty was signed. Last year it was moved forward 10 seconds and reached two minutes to midnight - the closest it’s been to the end of the world - following the Russian-Ukraine war and the nuclear weapon threat in China and North Korea.
Rest assured, the clock striking midnight will not usher in the end of days.
But the experts who created it viewed nuclear war as the biggest threat to man, and intend for it to be taken as an indicator of how dangerous the world is now.
Horrifying video recreates nuclear blast hitting major city ahead of Doomsday Clock update (@historyinmemes/Twitter)Although originally intended to warn of the threat of nuclear armageddon, the Doomsday Clock has evolved to take into account the likelihood of other emerging threats such as climate change and advances in biotechnology and artificial intelligence.
The announcement will be shared live on The Bulletin. You can sign up to watch on its YouTube channel, which will also send you a reminder when the coverage begins.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine was a major factor in the clock moving forward (Anadolu via Getty Images)We’re currently at 90 seconds to midnight, which is the closest to catastrophe it has ever been. It means we're currently living in a “time of unprecedented danger”.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine played a big role in the clock moving 10 seconds toward midnight last year, although there were other major concerns that had an impact.
(AFP via Getty Images)The clock was first unveiled by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) in 1947 as a means to represent the imminent threat of man-made global catastrophe. The nonprofit media organisation, made up of world leaders and Nobel laureates, use the clock as a metaphor and a reminder "of the perils we must address if we are to survive on the planet" as it ticks forwards and backwards according to the global threat level.
It was set at the two-minute mark in 2018 due to concerns over fake news and information warfare. It was previously set at the two-minute point in 1953 when the U.S. and Soviet Union both tested thermonuclear weapons. The farthest it has ever been from midnight was 17 minutes at the end of the Cold War.
In order for the clock to be turned back, BAS say the Russian and US presidents should identify "more ambitious and comprehensive limits on nuclear weapons." They have also called for greater global action on climate change - and a global effort to help avoid future pandemics through research.
