The Apocalypse Clock is closer than ever to catastrophe

The committee also warned of the growing risks of a nuclear arms race, as the New Start treaty on nuclear arms reduction between the United States and Russia expires next week and Trump pushes to deploy a costly “Golden Dome” missile defense system that would put weapons into orbit.

The Bulletin also highlighted the record levels of carbon dioxide emissions, the main factor in global warming. Also in this area, Trump radically reversed US policy on the fight against climate change.

“We are living in an information Armageddon, the underlying crisis of all crises, fueled by predatory technology that spreads lies faster than facts and benefits from our divisions,” declared Maria Ressa, Philippine investigative journalist and 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, founded by Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer and other nuclear scientists at the University of Chicago, initially set the clock to seven minutes to midnight in 1947.

Last year it moved closer, but only by a second, amid cautious expectations of the newly inaugurated Trump’s promises to seek peace.