91, 90, 89… 89 seconds till midnight.
The Doomsday Clock is now set the closest it has ever been to midnight, which according to leading scientists of today, represents the point of global catastrophe.
The clock was created by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. It highlights the real threats humanity faces. It started by warning the world about nuclear weapons but now includes the growing impact of things like climate change and new technologies. The clock serves as a reminder of challenges that must be confronted quickly.
While these issues are still serious, world history teacher Kelly Booth believes people should not be preparing for Doomsday just yet, “It’s really important when you’re looking at those big global issues that we are analyzing, not catastrophizing,” Booth said.
This perspective can encourage solving the problems rather than giving in to the fear of Doomsday.
Instead of fearing Doomsday, Booth thinks we should address the reasons scientists think we are so close to it.
“The thing is when we overshoot and have situations or information being shared that creates panic, it actually undermines the legitimacy of the issues being expressed,” Booth said.
Counting down the time left until doomsday causes panic, not problem-solving.
“Our generation is going to be handed the results of what the previous generations have done and we are going to have to be able to work with that. Really I think it’s just going to be your perspective, whether we find solutions or not. Every generation strives to, but not everyone does,” James Owen Taylor (9) said.
Though solutions are important, exaggerating the problems is also an issue.
“A lot of media outlets, they’re going to report the things in a way that get the clicks, the tune-ins, the ads, etc. and catastrophizing is certainly a way to make that happen. That’s not necessarily always going to end up being accurate,” Booth said.
The truth is something needs to be done to turn this around.
“We are citizens of Earth, and therefore we need to know how to take care of it and each other,” Taylor said.
According to the best scientists, we are failing to take care of this planet and its people.
The clock reminds people that those problems don’t just go away if no one talks about them, being open to discussion is the only way to get further away from disaster.
“I do think the clock is a decent representation of the current state of the world, and it is one the people need to be very conscientious of. Of course, everyone is going to have their different opinions on whether the clock is right or not, but it is still important that we are aware of what this clock represents,” Taylor said.
