The Doomsday Clock, which annually reevaluates the state of the world, is currently set at 85 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever been to heralding a man-made global catastrophe.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, an organization that updates the Doomsday Clock, says humanity continues to face species-threatening disasters through nuclear brinkmanship, failure to address climate change, and the hasty deployment of artificial intelligence (AI).
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“Our current trajectory is unsustainable,” they wrote in the report. “National leaders, especially those of the United States, Russia and China, must take the initiative to find a way back from the brink.”
Nuclear escalation by “great powers”
This urgency is heightened as nuclear-armed states escalate their nuclear programs around the world.
”[C]”Great power competition has become a full-fledged arms race, as evidenced by the increasing number of nuclear warheads and platforms in China and the modernization of nuclear delivery systems in the United States, Russia, and China,” the scientists wrote.
The report also condemned the lack of international cooperation on disarmament.
“As we issue this statement, New START, the last major agreement limiting the number of strategic nuclear weapons deployed by the United States and Russia, expires, ending nearly 60 years of efforts to curb nuclear competition between the world’s two largest nuclear powers,” they said. “Furthermore, the U.S. government is considering resuming explosive nuclear testing, potentially further accelerating a new nuclear arms race.”
These escalating conflicts are against the backdrop of accelerating climate change, which is beyond the control of each country. The international response has been “extremely destructive,” the Bulletin’s scientists said, citing a lack of commitment to phase out fossil fuels globally and the Trump administration’s attacks on renewable energy technologies.
AI and the threat of “mirror life”
Continuing the theme of last year’s report, the bulletin also warned about unregulated technologies, particularly the creation of “mirror lives” – chemically synthesized life that is a mirror image of the molecules of life that evolved naturally on Earth. The fear is that mirror organisms could be replaced by natural microorganisms or other organisms, and these life forms could evade the immune system and cause deadly pandemics.
According to the report’s authors, AI is another threat, both because of its ability to amplify disinformation and because of its introduction into national defense sectors.
Solving these problems does not appear to be easy, the report authors concluded, and the rise of authoritarianism worldwide is undermining efforts to address these international crises.
“Current authoritarian trends hinder international cooperation, reduce accountability, and serve as threat facilitators, making dangerous nuclear, climate, and technological threats increasingly difficult to reverse,” they write.
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