Doomsday Clock facts for kids
The Doomsday Clock is a symbol that represents the likely possibility of human-caused threat to humanity and possible extinction or non-reversable damage. Kept going since 1947 by the members of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists at the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The clock is a metaphor for threats to humanity.
The Clock's original setting in 1947 was 7 minutes to midnight. It has since been set backward 8 times and forward 18 times. The farthest time from midnight was 17 minutes in 1991, and the nearest is 89 seconds, set in January 2025.
The Clock was moved to 150 seconds (2 minutes, 30 seconds) in 2017, then forward to 2 minutes to midnight in 2018, and left unchanged in 2019. It was moved forward to 100 seconds (1 minute, 40 seconds) in 2020, 90 seconds (1 minute, 30 seconds) in 2023, and 89 seconds (1 minute, 29 seconds) in 2025.
Background
The clock shows how close the world is to a global catastrophe as a number of minutes or seconds to midnight, changed in January of each year. When the clock hits midnight, it means that a global event that would harm humanity is near.
The main reasons why the clock would change its times are nuclear risk and climate change.
Timeline
See also
In Spanish: Reloj del Apocalipsis para niños
