The cover of its first publication scheduled for June 1947 was entrusted to the artist Martyl Langsdorf, who initially considered the symbol of uranium to exalt the atomic threat, and later opted for a watch that represented the sense of urgency of the entity and the little time we had to control this new force that could turn disastrous. Although at the time he explained that the hands read seven minutes to twelve because “it looked good to the eye”, the hour ended up becoming the starting point towards a midnight that symbolizes an end of time that seems closer and closer.
It only took two years for the Apocalypse Clock to tick for the first time, and in a truly alarming way, marking three minutes to midnight. Since then it has remained a disturbing symbolic representation of a race against time and especially against our own nature. After all, the years pass and the human being seems bent on its destruction, not only with a nuclear war, but with many other crises that They have joined the list of threats that threaten our existence: military escalation, climate change, political tensions and pandemics.
One minute and forty seconds to go
With more than 70 years of existence, the Apocalypse Clock has lost some of its symbolic force by becoming a continuous warning that never seems to materialize and a recurring element of popular culture. This includes movies like Dr. Unusual or How I Learned Not to Care and Love the Bomb (1964), novels like The Impostor (1977), songs like The Call Up (1980), television episodes like Doctor Who: Four to Doomsday (1982 ) and graphic novels such as Watchmen (1986). Let’s not neglect it, because today more than ever we should pay attention to it.
It is currently located just one hundred seconds from midnight, this being its closest time to the end of the world in all history. Never, not even at the most critical point of the Cold War, have we run so much risk. The Bulletin marked this time in 2020 because of “two simultaneous existential dangers – nuclear war and climate change – which are compounded by a threat multiplier, a cybernetic information war, which undermines the response capacity of society ”. The schedule was preserved in 2021, because although the United States and Russia renewed their nuclear disarmament treaty, this did not prevent advances in the world’s nuclear arsenals. To this we add the massive vaccination against Covid-19, although marred by the continuous risk of mutations.
The most dangerous situation humanity has ever faced
The situation is alarming and the entity concludes that we are facing “the most dangerous situation that humanity has ever faced.” It almost seems that our time is numbered, but the truth is that there is still hope. This is demonstrated by a tour of the symbolic schedule itself.