If only we did, and those of us who remember this great Song by the "Satchmo" - Louis Armstrong - wax very nostalgically for the time it was recorded.
People into Heavy Metal Music might feel the same about when Iron Maiden did their tremendous 1980's Song "2 Minutes to Midnight".
Why?
Because even the latter reminds us of a time when things felt a lot safer. (If that was possible)
To measure how close we are to a combination of Nuclear and other Catastrophes People refer to something called the Doomsday Clock.
The Doomsday Clock: Measuring Humanity’s Risk
The Doomsday Clock is one of the most famous symbols of humanity’s vulnerability to global catastrophe. It was created to warn the public about dangers that could threaten civilization and, potentially, human existence itself. Although it looks like an ordinary clock, its hands do not measure hours and minutes. Instead, they represent how close experts believe humanity is to a hypothetical “midnight”—the point of global catastrophe.
The Origins of the Doomsday Clock
The Doomsday Clock was created in 1947 by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, an organization founded by scientists who had become deeply concerned about the consequences of nuclear weapons.
The idea emerged shortly after the Second World War, when the world had witnessed the destructive power of atomic bombs. Scientists who had worked on or been associated with nuclear research recognized that humanity had entered a new and dangerous era. Nuclear weapons could now potentially destroy entire cities and cause unprecedented global devastation.
Artist Martyl Rees designed the original clock for the cover of the Bulletin. Its hands were positioned at seven minutes to midnight. The image was intended to communicate urgency: humanity was living dangerously close to disaster.
What Does the Clock Mean?
Midnight on the Doomsday Clock represents a metaphorical point at which humanity faces catastrophic consequences. The closer the minute hand is to midnight, the greater the perceived danger.
However, the clock is not a scientific instrument that predicts the future. It does not tell us that catastrophe will happen at a particular time. Instead, it is a symbolic assessment made by experts who consider major threats facing humanity.
Over the decades, the scientists behind the clock have considered several different dangers, including:
- Nuclear weapons and nuclear war
- Climate change
- Biological threats
- Emerging technologies
- Artificial intelligence and other rapidly developing technologies
- International conflicts and political instability
- The spread of misinformation and the weakening of institutions
The factors considered have changed as the world itself has changed.
The Clock During the Cold War
Nuclear weapons remained the central concern during much of the Cold War. The United States and the Soviet Union accumulated enormous nuclear arsenals, while political tensions between the two superpowers created the possibility of a devastating confrontation.
In 1953, after both countries developed increasingly powerful thermonuclear weapons, the Doomsday Clock was moved to two minutes before midnight—the closest it had been to catastrophe at that time.
The clock later moved farther from midnight during periods of reduced tension. For example, improvements in relations between the United States and Soviet Union contributed to the clock being set back during the 1970s.
This history demonstrates that the clock is not permanently moving toward midnight. Its position can change in either direction depending on the circumstances of the world.
Beyond Nuclear Weapons
Although nuclear war remains an important concern, the Doomsday Clock eventually came to represent a broader range of global dangers.
Climate change, for example, became increasingly important as scientists documented rising global temperatures, melting ice, rising sea levels, and increasingly severe environmental risks. The clock's message therefore expanded: humanity's survival depends not only on avoiding war but also on managing the consequences of technological and environmental change.
In recent years, advances in artificial intelligence and biotechnology have also raised new questions. These technologies can provide enormous benefits, but experts have debated how to manage their potential risks and prevent powerful technologies from being misused.
Why Is the Clock Important?
The greatest importance of the Doomsday Clock may be its ability to turn complicated global problems into a simple and memorable image.
Nuclear strategy, climate science, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and international relations can be difficult subjects to understand. The clock provides a straightforward question: How close are we to creating conditions that could seriously threaten humanity?
It is also intended to encourage action rather than hopelessness. Moving the hands closer to midnight is a warning, not a declaration that disaster is inevitable. If governments, scientists, organizations, and individuals address major global risks, the clock can move backward.
A Symbol of Responsibility
The Doomsday Clock ultimately represents a choice. Humanity possesses technologies capable of producing extraordinary progress, but some of those same technologies can create extraordinary dangers.
The clock reminds us that the future is not completely predetermined. Decisions made today—about nuclear weapons, the environment, scientific research, emerging technologies, international cooperation, and public policy—can influence the risks faced by future generations.
Rather than simply asking when the world will end, the Doomsday Clock asks a more important question: What can humanity do to prevent catastrophe?
That is why the clock continues to matter. It is not really counting down to the end of the world. It is a warning that the future depends, to a significant extent, on the choices people make today.
Doomsday Clock timeline of Settings .....
- 1947 (7 minutes): Created on the magazine cover by artist Martyl Langsdorf to reflect nuclear threats.
- 1949 (3 minutes): Moved forward after the Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb.
- 1953 (2 minutes): Advanced following US and Soviet hydrogen bomb tests.
- 1963 (12 minutes): Moved back after the signing of the Partial Test Ban Treaty.
- 1984 (3 minutes): Shifted forward as US-Soviet diplomatic relations hit a low point.
- 1991 (17 minutes): Set at its furthest distance from midnight following the end of the Cold War and the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.
- 2007 (5 minutes): Climate change is formally added alongside nuclear threats as a core existential danger.
- 2020 (100 seconds): Pushed past the two-minute mark for the first time due to compounding nuclear and climate inaction.
- 2023–2024 (90 seconds): Moved closer amid escalating geopolitical tensions from the Russia-Ukraine war.
- 2025 (89 seconds): Ticked one second forward amid mounting global instability.
- 2026 (85 seconds): Advanced to 85 seconds to midnight, marking the closest point in the clock's history.
As you can see the combination of everything that has happened in the last 6 years has pushed that Minute hand closer and closer to Midnight. This is unprecedented as, while it happened twice in the 1950's, the next Setting was far more reassuring.
So how have Events forced this very alarming Situation?
It started in 2020 as Tensions mounted with the growing Crisis in Ukraine, the absence of both the JCPOA Treaty with Iran and the Intermediary Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia (cancelled during Trump#1) and inaction on Climate Change.
Then things really began getting out of hand.
The Crisis in Ukraine worsened as Russia invaded in 2022 and Europe fractured. Nordstream was destroyed and Geopolitics in the Region began unravelling faster than anyone imagined, Tensions increased in the Caucasus and Israel began their Slaughter in Gaza. The Levant and Asia minor watched their Aggression with increased nervousness and then they (Israel) and America launched several illegal Wars on Iran and the general Consensus within Geopolitical Commentators was that the Age of Diplomacy and International Law was dead.
It was like the Peace of Westphalia never existed.
The terrifying thing about all this - throwing Threats to Food and Energy Security into the Mix - is how a World War doesn't erupt in a single Day.
World War 2 was what happened when years of regional Conflicts merged into each other.
Japan invaded Manchuria. Mussolini started flexing his Muscles in North Africa and Abyssinia, and Hitler started expanding Germany. He did this internally first, then annexed the Sudeten before invading Czechoslovakia and Poland. The War spread to the British, Dutch, Belgian and French Empires as the Axis Powers invaded their Dominions in Asia, Africa and then the home Countries of Europe. The War finally went global when Germany invaded the Soviet Union and declared War on America after Japan bombed Pearl Harbour in December 1942.
This starts looking very familiar to anyone paying attention to what is happening now.
Civil War has erupted in Yemen as government Forces supporting the Saudis relaunch their War on the Houthis. How long will it be before others do the same like they did in the War of 15 years ago? This included Sudan whose Government have the support of Ukrainian Soldiers based there. The Conflict moves closer to the strategically crucial Seaport of Djibouti at the narrow end of the Red Sea. Gamal Nasser might have tried nationalising the Suez Canal but the Red Sea always remained navigable.
The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement.......
This was signed in recent Days and is an Agreement between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey. It is a Pact effectively saying that an attack on any one of these is an attack on all of them. It's not clear what that means in the Context of Houthi attacks on the Saudis or any of the others by the Axis of Resistance, or if it will even invoke a Response from the other two in the Agreement, but taken at face value it could cause the War to spread as others in it are drawn in to the Conflict. Turkey could find itself fighting Iraqi Militias while Pakistani Troops in Saudi Arabia might have to join the War against the Houthis in Yemen.
They're all merging into each other and involve Governments as far away as Pyon Yang and Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo..... and Taipei.
The worrying thing is that it took 2 Nuclear Bombs to end World War 2. The Nuclear Weapons that could be deployed now won't just destroy 2 Cities thousands of miles away and will end a lot more than just a World War.
