A real life institution that is well known to comic book fans the world over, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists have announced the latest update to the “Doomsday Clock.” The group revealed in their annual review that the clock has now been placed as 100 seconds until midnight, the closest that it has ever been in the history of the metaphorical device.So what does this all mean? The creation of the clock, developed in the wake of the fallout of World War II and the first use of atomic weapons in combat, is meant to signify “the world’s vulnerability to catastrophe from nuclear weapons, climate change, and new technologies emerging in other domains.”
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As for why the Doomsday Clock has been moved to this exact time, again, the closest it has ever been to Midnight, there are a number of factors outlined in their release including loosening restrictions on nuclear arms in other countries (in addition to tensions between those countries in general), plus insufficient responses to climate change, and what they dub “increased threat of information warfare and other disruptive technologies” which includes “fake news” dismissals and the rise of “Deep Fake” video technology online. In regard to what can be done about these things, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists says:
“The global security situation is unsustainable and extremely dangerous, but that situation can be improved, if leaders seek change and citizens demand it. There is no reason the Doomsday Clock cannot move away from midnight. It has done so in the past when wise leaders acted, under pressure from informed and engaged citizens around the world. We believe that mass civic engagement will be necessary to compel the change the world needs.’
“Citizens around the world have the power to unmask social media disinformation and improve the long-term prospects of their children and grandchildren. They can insist on facts, and discount nonsense. They can demand—through public protest, at the ballot box, and in many other creative ways—that their leaders take immediate steps to reduce the existential threats of nuclear war and climate change. It is now 100 seconds to midnight, the most dangerous situation that humanity has ever faced. Now is the time to unite—and act.”
Fans of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen comic, as well as its various film, TV, and comic book spin-offs, sequels, and adaptations, know the Doomsday Clock well. The clock was used as a recurring motif throughout the comic book series, and even became the title of its comic book sequel penned by Geoff Johns. In the original series by Moore and Gibbons, the clock was used in each chapter to signify both the passage of time and the mounting tensions between the United States and Russia, which Ozymandias quickly dispelled by dropping a giant squid on New York. In the end, the clock was right, it just wasn’t nuclear arms that attacked the world but a ten story, psychic cephalopod. It is perhaps unlikely that similar events will unfold on our Earth.
