CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The Chicago-based Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on Wednesday announced the hands of its Doomsday Clock will remain at 100 seconds to midnight because of imminent threats to humanity.
One hundred seconds is the closest the hands have ever been to midnight, which symbolizes the end of the world.
The pandemic and toxic politics loom large in the clock announcement, which is made annually to show how close the world is potentially to collapse.
President Rachel Bronson calls the latter factor "the deliberate erosion, by politicians, of science and our core institutions."
"It has been a disastrous succession of falling dominoes, made possible by years of shredding science, mocking scientists and other experts and catering to conspiracy theories instead of nurturing our previously most-trusted institutions."
She said COVID-19 won't obliterate civilization, but the pandemic revealed just how unprepared and unwilling nations and the international system are to handle global emergencies properly.
The Doomsday Clock tradition dates back to 1947, shortly after the dawn of the nuclear age. The first clock was set at 7 minutes to midnight. The current, dire mark of 100 seconds to midnight was first established in 2020.
