Speaking with Esquire in 2021 for the Big Watch Book, the President and CEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists opened up about the process behind the annual change
On 24 January 2023, the hands of the Doomsday Clock – repositioned each year by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists to reflect existential threats facing mankind and our planet – were set to 90 seconds to midnight, the closest the clock has ever come to forewarning armageddon. The team behind the decision largely blamed the decision on the"mounting dangers in the war in Ukraine”, which has raised"profound questions" around humanity's continued existence.
Well, the hope is always that we move it backwards. It was a very big deal to go to two minutes to midnight [in 2018], the closest it had been since the 1950s. In 2018 we thought things were as dangerous as they were in 1953. In the 1950s we were building the technologies, and then in the 1960s and 1970s we were building an architecture to keep the technologies at bay. And there was some sense of international cooperation that together we could figure this out.
I think there’s been real reasons for optimism. And what science can bring us, in terms of how unbelievably quickly we can get to a vaccine and then to distribution. The Biden administration, with the Russians, have had a new start. In terms of climate and the annual UN conference, the fact that it didn’t fall apart when the United States walked away is a huge sign of success.
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