World News for Students of English

01-02-2023 15:00

The Doomsday Clock is an idea that scientists use to show how close they think we are to nuclear destruction of the planet.

In 1947, Albert Einstein and other the scientists created the clock. When it first started ticking, it sat at seven minutes to midnight. However, two years later, the Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb, and the hand moved to three minutes to midnight.

In 1991, as the Cold War cooled down, the clock was set at its furthest time from catastrophe of 17 minutes to midnight. In the years since, the clock’s hand creeped closer to midnight, and thanks to geopolitical tensions and the climate crisis, it got to 100 seconds to midnight.

Each year, nuclear technology and climate science experts discuss world events and where to move the clock’s hand. The closer they place it to midnight, the closer they think we are to annihilation. Last week, they reset the clock to 90 seconds to midnight, so the world is closer to ending than ever before.

Difficult words: geopolitical (political activity influenced by the physical features of a country or area), annihilation (complete destruction).

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