The United Nations chief warned Monday that the world is facing a convergence of challenges unlike any in our lifetimes and expressed fear of a wider war as the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine approaches. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said experts who surveyed the state of the world in 2023 set the Doomsday Clock at 90 seconds to midnight the closest ever to total global catastrophe, He pointed to the war in Ukraine, runaway climate catastrophe, rising nuclear threats, the widening gulf between the world's haves and have-nots, and the epic geopolitical divisions undermining global solidarity and trust. In a wide-ranging address Guterres urged the General Assembly's 193 member nations to change their mindset on decision-making from near-term thinking, which he called irresponsible and immoral, to looking at what will happen to all of us tomorrow and act. He said this year's 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights should serve as a remin
The Doomsday Clock's time is set by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists' Science and Security Board with the support of the Bulletin's Board of Sponsors
Scientists blamed a cocktail of threats, ranging from dangerous political rhetoric to the potential of a nuclear threat, as the catalysts for moving the clock closer
Idea of a Doomsday Clock was conceived by the editorial staff of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists