![]() The revolution in life sciences and associated technologies continued to expand in scope last year, including, especially, the increased sophistication and efficiency of genetic engineering technologies. Barring a marked increase in efforts, the toll of human suffering from climate disruption will inexorably mount. In short, current efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are grossly insufficient to avoid dangerous human and economic impacts from climate change, which disproportionately affect the poorest people in the world. Offsetting this, however, were fossil fuel investments of nearly $1 trillion. The world invested a record-breaking $1.7 trillion in clean energy in 2023, and countries representing half the world’s gross domestic product pledged to triple their renewable energy capacity by 2030. To halt further warming, the world must achieve net zero carbon dioxide emissions. The world already risks exceeding a goal of the Paris climate agreement-a temperature increase of no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels-because of insufficient commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and insufficient implementation of commitments already made. Both global and North Atlantic sea-surface temperatures broke records, and Antarctic sea ice reached its lowest daily extent since the advent of satellite data. The world in 2023 entered uncharted territory as it suffered its hottest year on record and global greenhouse gas emissions continued to rise. ![]() Nuclear expansion in Pakistan and India continues without pause or restraint.Īnd the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas has the potential to escalate into a wider Middle Eastern conflict that could pose unpredictable threats, regionally and globally. Efforts to reinstate an Iran nuclear deal appear unlikely to succeed, and North Korea continues building nuclear weapons and long-range missiles. Iran continues to enrich uranium to close to weapons grade while stonewalling the International Atomic Energy Agency on key issues. Meanwhile, other potential nuclear crises fester. Russia and China are expanding their nuclear capabilities, and pressure mounts in Washington for the United States to respond in kind. Nuclear spending programs in the three largest nuclear powers-China, Russia, and the United States-threaten to trigger a three-way nuclear arms race as the world’s arms control architecture collapses. In October, Russia’s Duma voted to withdraw Moscow's ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, as the US Senate continued to refuse even to debate ratification. In June, Sergei Karaganov, an advisor to Putin, urged Moscow to consider launching limited nuclear strikes on Western Europe as a way to bring the war in Ukraine to a favorable conclusion. In March, he announced the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. In February 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his decision to “suspend” the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START). The many dimensions of nuclear threatĪ durable end to Russia’s war in Ukraine seems distant, and the use of nuclear weapons by Russia in that conflict remains a serious possibility. As we wrote last year, “In this time of unprecedented global danger, concerted action is required, and every second counts.” That is just as true today. Because it may well be.īut the world can be made safer. Instead, leaders and citizens around the world should take this statement as a stark warning and respond urgently, as if today were the most dangerous moment in modern history. Our decision should not be taken as a sign that the international security situation has eased. Today, we once again set the Doomsday Clock at 90 seconds to midnight because humanity continues to face an unprecedented level of danger. Last year, we expressed our heightened concern by moving the Clock to 90 seconds to midnight-the closest to global catastrophe it has ever been-in large part because of Russian threats to use nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine. That is why we set the Doomsday Clock at two minutes to midnight in 2019 and at 100 seconds to midnight in 2022. The members of the Science and Security Board have been deeply worried about the deteriorating state of the world. Meanwhile, rapid and worrisome developments in the life sciences and other disruptive technologies accelerated, while governments made only feeble efforts to control them. In 2023, Earth experienced its hottest year on record, and massive floods, wildfires, and other climate-related disasters affected millions of people around the world. ![]() China, Russia, and the United States are all spending huge sums to expand or modernize their nuclear arsenals, adding to the ever-present danger of nuclear war through mistake or miscalculation. ![]() The war in Ukraine and the widespread and growing reliance on nuclear weapons increase the risk of nuclear escalation. ![]() Ominous trends continue to point the world toward global catastrophe. ![]()
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