Scientists leave Doomsday Clock at two minutes to twelve | Abroad

The last time the clock was moved was in 2019. Then the hand moved 20 seconds closer to midnight. The world was safest in 1991, when the clock was 17 minutes to midnight. Just like in 2020 and 2021, the doomsday clock is at 23 hours 58 minutes and 20 seconds. At this hour, the clock is even closer than ever to the symbolic apocalypse.

In the statement, the scientists say the change in leadership in the United States last year gave hope that what seemed like a global race for disaster could be halted and even undone. Indeed, in 2021, the new US administration changed US policy on a number of points that have made the world safer, according to scientists.

“Yet the change in American leadership has not been enough to reverse negative trends in international security that have long been building and will continue through 2021,” the statement said. Scientists see nuclear weapons, climate change, disruptive technologies and the growing struggle for control of space as the main threats to humanity.