Nikhil Shrestha

Armageddon, the end of the world, judgment day, yeah, yeah; who hasn’t heard of that before, huh? If I recall correctly, weren’t we supposed to vanish out of existence back in 2012? Whatever happened to that? It’s almost as if we’re getting more and more immune (or is negligent the proper word here?) to threats against human civilization. Well, maybe since the world obviously didn’t end 8 years ago, the negligence is somewhat justified.
But the bigger question we ought to be asking right now is if we as a species are doing anything to make sure that doesn’t come into reality. Apparently not, since the Doomsday Clock is now 100 seconds to midnight.
you in on what the “Doomsday Clock” actually is. And no, I’m not referring to DC Comics’ continuation of the classic graphic novel “Watchmen” by the same name.
Doomsday Clock, like the phrase sounds, is actually something that is gravely alarming to mankind; at least theoretically. It is a symbol or a metaphor that illustrates the probability of an apocalypse based on factors like unchecked technological advances, nuclear risks, politics, artificial intelligence (AI) and climate change, to strike the planet and therefore the humanity. This is otherwise referred to as the “countdown to zero”. Founded in 1947 by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (University of Chicago), the clock has been steadily getting closer to midnight (the apocalypse) ever since. In its initial setting, Doomsday Clock was set 7 minutes to midnight while it’s at 100 seconds now which only means one thing – the end is near.
Before going absolutely berserk about all this, it’s important to realize that the clock can and historically has been set back rather than move forward. To reiterate, it’s just a metaphor. In 1991, the clock got to 17 minutes to midnight, which is the farthest it’s ever been.
That was the result of the United States and the Soviet Union, who signed a treaty for reduction and limitation of strategic offensive arms. And 30 or odd years later, we can see just how downhill we’ve gone. So the question remains, are we all doomed? Isn’t there something we can do or is it too late to do something?
Incompetence and arrogance of the people at power seem to be the primary driver of the Doomsday Clock. Every country wants nuclear weaponry at its arsenal. Their investments, experiments, and tests of such nuclear missiles and whatnots only take a toll on nature, while compounding to the dreaded nuclear warfare.
We started off 2020 with quite a rocky start, didn’t we? The assassination of the Iranian major general Qasem Soleimani by the US only added fuel to the ever-brewing US-Iran tension. And Iran didn’t sit quietly either, raiding a US base in Iraq just a couple of days ago. Only time will tell what the future has in stores for us.
More on the subject of nuclear weapons, all the major treaties signed and the negotiations made for their attenuation and control seem to be non-existent in practicality. The number of nuclear warheads by each country and the number of countries itself is on the rise every year.
Next up is climate change. While some the world leaders are outright in denial of the very foundation of climate change, the youngins are the ones raising awareness of the calamity. 2019 was a testimonial to that fact, with millions of youths around the world coming together with the same concern. The ones we chose to look over us are busy with something else entirely. The past year perfectly exemplified such a humiliating reality.
Let’s start with the Amazon rainforest fires. The Amazon rainforest is the world’s largest tropical rainforest (also hailed as the “lungs of the world”) fell victim to a massive chain of fire destroying almost a million hectares of such a precious resource. And what did Brazilian prime minister do about it, you ask? Literally nothing, and even going as far as to deny the credibility of the incident. Furthermore, his arrogance directly resulted in the destruction of unwarranted magnitude by refusing any kind of foreign aides.
And then there’s the Australian bushfire, with over 18 million hectares of land burned, and countless lives destroyed. Here as well, while the entire world was donating money, or helping any other way they could, the Australian Prime Minister was “brave” enough to ignore and downplay the destruction. The blazing red skies at 4 AM in the morning isn’t just “nothing”! Of course, nothing good ever comes out of such a tragedy but I took solace on how the world came together for each catastrophe.
Millions of dollars raised (by means ethical or questionable), thousands of helping hands coming forward; all this ensures a hopeful future. And I couldn’t be happier! But then I can’t help but be worried if there’s going to be a future at all. Carbon dioxide emissions climb up every year, with their control left unattended. The bureaucracy tangled with every country, restrict the formation of any solid plan and its execution. Similarly, fossil fuel extractions are on the rise again, though there have been some considerable policies to promote the use of electric over fuel vehicles.
Companies like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon are directly working with fossil fuel companies to efficiently discover and optimize the exploration, drilling, and production of oil and gas. Being the tech companies that they are, financing isn’t the only thing being collaborated on – these tech giants are deploying technologies like AI and machine learning to ensure that fossil fuel production doesn’t die out anytime soon. Chanting words of energy sustainability and minimized carbon emissions on one hand, while effectively facilitating the very thing that opposes it sure is diabolical.
In times like this, I’m reminded of a quote by Dr. Gregory House – “Everybody lies.” Who do we actually trust? The world government has repeatedly proven to be incompetent and or uncaring of our future. Bringing change by a single person is possible, as Greta Thunberg so courageously demonstrated. So before every corrupt bureaucrat bites the dust, it’s up to us. We’re the ones responsible to save our planet, the “only home we’ve ever known.” Until then, the impending doom will lurk around, reminding of its presence, threatening of its reality, and hopefully motivating us to actually act against it. Tick-tock, tick-tock – the clock is ticking.