World is still safe, warns scientists

The Doomsday Clock, representing the judgment of leading science and security experts about the dangers to human existence, remains at 100 seconds to midnight this year, with advances like COVID-19 vaccines balanced by rising misinformation and other threats.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists President Rachel Bronson declared on Thursday that the world was no safer this year than two years ago when the clock's hands were moved to their current position.

National leaders must do a better job of countering disinformation, heeding science and cooperating if humanity is to avoid an existential catastrophe, one that would dwarf everything it has seen, she told reporters on the 75th anniversary of the clock's initial unveiling.

The fact that it hasn't shifted closer to midnight does not mean that threats have stabilized, the group said in a full statement.

The Clock remains the closest to a civilization-ending apocalypse because of the fact that the world is stuck in an extremely dangerous moment. The Bulletin was founded in 1945 by Albert Einstein, J Robert Oppenheimer and other scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project that produced the first nuclear weapons.

The idea of the clock symbolizing global vulnerability to catastrophe came to an end in 1947.

The organization s board of sponsors has the support of 11 Nobel laureates, and its time is set by its board of sponsors.

The Bulletin said there were hopeful developments at the beginning of 2021, including the renewal of the New START arms control agreement between the United States and Russia.

International tensions continue to loom ominously, including most recently over Ukraine. China, Russia and the United States are on the march to develop hypersonic weapons.

The Bulletin said that no country remains immune to threats to democracy, as demonstrated by the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. More than 10% of those charged with crimes related to the riot were active or retired service members, underscoring extremism in the military.

On climate, COP 26 in Glasgow offered positive rhetoric but little action.

There are several countries that have declared net-zero carbon dioxide targets by the year 2050, but getting there would require immediate divestment from fossil fuels, investment in renewables, upgrading infrastructure and shifting land use and agriculture practices.

The past year has seen a lot of climate disasters, said Raymond Pierrehumber, professor of physics at the University of Oxford.

We've had the heat dome over North America, worldwide fires, drought, floods, and this is just a sampling of what will come if we don't get the emissions of carbon dioxide to zero. Since COVID 19 has focused the world's scientific attention, governments must be prepared for other biological threats - from weapons programs to the rise in antibiotic resistance, which the Bulletin said could trigger a new pandemic within a decade.

The Bulletin highlighted how disinformation stoked by politicians in high office is undermining faith in science and hampering the ability to confront its challenges.

Sharon Squassoni, a research professor at George Washington University, said that a particularly invidious threat is the intentional undermining of the public's ability to sort out what is true from what is patently false by information warfare.

She added that this subverts our ability to reach consensus on the solutions needed to achieve positive change.

The Bulletin called for Washington and Moscow to expand the scope of nuclear reduction, and for the world's leading polluters to accelerate decarbonization.

China should set an example by pursuing sustainable development pathways, not fossil fuel-intensive projects in its Belt and Road global infrastructure initiative, it said.

The United States and other leading countries should increase cooperation with the World Health Organization to reduce biological risks.

This would involve monitoring of animal-human interactions, increasing international disease surveillance, and increasing production and distribution of medical supplies.