LA1780 - Assignment 1

Mohammed Adil CH19BTECH11001

Picture: Doomsday Clock: Minutes to Midnight

The Doomsday Clock is a symbol that represents the likelihood of a man-made global
catastrophe. Started in 1947 it is updated and looked upon by the bulletin of the atomic scientists.
It is a metaphor indicating the threats to mankind and all life forms at large, eventually leading
towards a global catastrophic disaster accounting due to climate changes, nuclear war and related
factors, information wars etc.
It highlights the timescale for the catastrophe as number of minutes or seconds to midnight. In
this context midnight indicates disaster, destruction and the end of life forms due to the various
risk factors. The number of minutes/seconds left to strike midnight is a measure of how near or
far are we from the global disaster.

The clock is assessed and updated each January based on the risk factors listed above. The
authority (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists) makes the decision based on new developments in
the life sciences and technology that could inflict irrevocable harm to humanity. Members of the
board judge Midnight by discussing how close they think humanity is to the end of civilization

The clock's original setting in 1947 was seven minutes to midnight. It has been updated 24 times
since(backwards 8 times and forward 16 times), the maximum number of minutes to midnight
being 17 in 1991, and the smallest being 100 seconds in 2020 and 2021.
The largest backward shift of a total of 14 mins was between 1988-1991 as a result of sign
the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, fall of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain,
along with the reunification of Germany, meaning that the Cold War is nearing its end, signing
of the first Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I)
Since 1991 the clock has seen majorly forward movement of the minute hand because of various
nuclear tests, wars, global warming effects, industrial impacts, political intolerance etc.

This is a very realistic approach to indicate the loss mankind is facing(would face, in future) to
spread awareness among the masses.

Though the clock presents information in the form of couple of minutes/seconds but in reality it
could take several years or a couple of decades for the mentioned event to occur.This illustrates a
perfect example of how scaling down of time stamps can portray information in a form which
can be more relatable to the masses.

The idea of midnight indicating darkness, destruction and death and the small time period we as
humans have to revert the losses happening due to various factors like nuclear risks, climate
change, bio terrorism etc would drive to the implementation of new initiatives and rules to ensure
safe existence of human race in the long run.

Over the years, people have also argued that the clock is a very pessimistic approach to portray
the idea of time left towards a possible catastrophe but I personally feel that it is a very strong
tool to make people aware of the threats faced by mankind on a global level.