Humanity Closer Than Ever to Destroying Itself: The Doomsday Clock Over the Years

India and Pakistan stage nuclear weapons tests only three weeks apart. “The tests are a symptom of the failure of the international community to fully commit itself to control the spread of nuclear weapons,” a dismayed Bulletin reports as it moves the clock five minutes closer to midnight. Russia and the United States still maintain 7,000 warheads ready to fire at each other within 15 minutes warning.

Boris Yeltsin, who had served as president of Russia since 1991, resigns and hands over power to Vladimir Putin.

Anticipation for the new millennium is high, but so are concerns about the Y2K bug, also called the Year 2000 bug, or the Millennium bug. The bug is expected to wreck computer programs as the year switches to 2000, but few problems actually result.

On Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers linked to terrorist group al-Qaeda fly planes into the both World Trade towers and the Pentagon. A fourth plane crashes in a Pennsylvania field. The killing of thousands of innocent civilians leads to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

After the 9/11 attacks, concerns mount regarding a nuclear attack with unsecured nuclear materials. The U.S. rejects a series of arms control treaties and announces it will withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, instead seeking to build new nuclear weapons, the Bulletin explains and moves the clock two minutes closer to midnight.

NASA’s space program takes a devastating blow when the space shuttle Columbia breaks up as it returns to Earth, killing all seven astronauts aboard. The disaster follows the 1986 Challenger catastrophe.

In Beijing, U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Chairman of the China Atomic Energy Authority Zhang Huazhu commit to heightened cooperation on nuclear proliferation, security, and counterterrorism.

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Hurricane Katrina slams into New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, causing 1,833 deaths and roughly $108 billion in damage (in 2005 dollars).

On Aug. 31, Iran refuses to halt its nuclear program, leading to the ongoing standoff between Iran and the U.S.

North Korea conducts a nuclear test as the U.S. and Russia remain ready to stage a nuclear attack within minutes. Meanwhile, the Bulletin warns for the first time that climate change presents a dire challenge to humanity and moves the clock two more minutes closer to midnight.

Barack Obama becomes the first Black American elected president of the U.S.