It is 100 seconds to midnight right now.

In 1945, the first atomic bombs were detonated in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, many scientists who contributed were shocked at the damage that they had caused. They formed the bulletin of Atomic Scientists. I would love to show you the image cover, but I really don't want to break any copyright laws, so if you want to see it, you can find it here. The clock shows how many minutes and/or seconds are to midnight. But in this case, midnight is now the end of the day and the start of a new one. Midnight is the end of the human race. Over the years, the clock's hand has changed over lots of time. Here is the full log of changes:

The clock started at 7 minutes to midnight. This was completely arbitrary, but it is important to note that this was the year that India and Pakistan gained independence from India.

Okay, why are we not doing good? Well, I think there are 9 major reasons, that we are heading down right now. Here are them:

#1: COVID-19

Let's be honest: COVID-19 gave us some of the most stressful years of our lives. We couldn't go to school, we couldn't go to work, we couldn't go see relatives living in other towns, we couldn't travel, we had to make sure to wear masks and be 6 feet/2 meters apart from each other, we had to learn how to use Zoom. COVID-19 shut many businesses down, and many are still struggling to reopen. Worldwide, there have been over 400 million people who have tested positive to COVID-19 (which included me two months ago). Unfortunately, around 6 million people have lost their lives to COVID-19, too. Just as things were looking better in 2021, a new variant and new wave came. Right now, things are looking better in the United States and where I live, with the vaccine, and us learning the hard way, but there is always a possibility of a new variant, a new wave, or possibly a new virus.

#2: Racism

Last year, George Floyd was murdered by Derek Chauvin after he gave a store clerk a suspicious-looking $20 bill. The police were called, and Officer Derek Chauvin pinned Floyd to the ground with his knee on his neck for 10 minutes. Floyd was heard saying "I can't breathe." He later died. There are many more examples of racism in the 21st century. There are many cases of police violence against African Americans. Because of COVID-19, there have been many hate crimes committed against Chinese-Americans. There are

#3: Social Unrest

Following the murder of George Floyd, there were massive protests all across the world. While most were/are peaceful, there were/are a lot that weren’t/aren’t. In New York, there was widespread looting of shops. But it wasn’t just BLM protesters. There have been anti-mask and anti-vaccine protests around the world. As of writing (February 12th, 2022), there has been a large truck protest in Canada, that is preventing other cars from passing by. But it’s not the only one.

#4: Politics

Okay, now I am getting to some controversy (and also Stewartbanningmephobia). Let me try to approach this in as neutral of a way as possible: the 2020 election was a very close one. However, there were many controversies surrounding it. Many Republican voters and representatives wanted to stop the vote count in several important swing states. Some Republicans also said that the election was rigged. On January 6th, 2021, many Trump supporters stormed the capitol building as the senate was holding a vote that would eventually officialize that Joe Biden won the election.

#6: Crypto and NFTS

Yes. You heard me right. Cryptocurrencies and NFTs are very bad for the environment. In case you don't know, cryptocurrencies are sort of like currencies and stocks mixed together. As I am writing this segment (February 14, 2022), one bitcoin costs around $40,000 USD. Let's say I have $400 right now that I decided to put into bitcoin. That would mean that I owned 0.01 or 1/100 of a bitcoin. However, the thing about bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is that they change in value. That means that if I put $400 in bitcoin today, tomorrow I could be a thousand dollars richer than yesterday, or I could lose all that $400. NFTs are...interesting. They are basically JPG images that people can "buy." I can't really explain it that well, so if you want to learn more, you can check the video I have linked. Okay, here is the problem with crypto and NFTs. Many cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, rely on Blockchain. Blockchain is also very complicated, but to try to explain it quickly, blockchain is like a big spreadsheet. Some people dedicate their computer's power to crypto mining. This means that they will keep track of all transactions and how much bitcoin each person has. In exchange, miners gain bitcoin in return. NFTs rely on Ethereum, another cryptocurrency. But crypto mining is very bad for the environment. In order for blockchain to be secure, there have to be a lot of miners. Bitcoin has over a million miners worldwide. This means one million people earning bitcoin, but more crucially, one million computers whose power is being used to mine bitcoin. This means that a lot of electricity is basically wasted. And this brings me to my next point.

#7: Fossil Fuels

Electricity isn't free. It has a cost. While it might cost money, this is not the cost that I am talking about. I am talking about the environmental costs. The main ways to generate electricity are coal, natural gas, water turbines, wind turbines, solar panels, and nuclear energy. Coal and Natural Gas, as well as petroleum and some other substances, are fossil fuels. Fossil Fuels are bad for the environment on multiple levels. Most fossil fuels are made up of carbon, so burning these will release Carbon Dioxide (CO2). Not only that, but fossil fuels are created when dead creatures are buried under layers of sand, dirt, and rock. This means that once we have used up our supply of fossil fuels, we must find more fossil fuels, change to other, renewable sources, or wait for more fossil fuels to come. But not only that, but some cars are very bad for the environment. Now, not all cars are bad for the environment. In fact, some are very good (looking at you, Elon Musk). There are trucks that run on diesel. Diesel is really just filtered petroleum and biomass/fuel. There are cars that use gasoline, and gasoline is also really bad for the environment. There are Hybrid Cars and Electric Cars, much better. Hybrid Cars use both a motor and a battery, while Electric Cars run solely on electricity.

#8: Pollution

There are two main problems I see around pollution. Firstly, pollution can cause smog. Smog is a mixture of smoke and fog that is not good to breathe in and can lead to damage to the ozone layer, which eventually leads to global warming. It also makes it hard to see. In Delhi, India, each year there is a large smog cloud covering the city, caused by farmers in other regions of India burning crops. That smog can make it so that drivers crash into cars in front of them because they can't see them, as well as lung problems from inhaling too much smog. Secondly, rising waters. Global warming literally means that the earth is warming up. And as we know, ice becomes water when it warms up. See a problem? Melting ice means more water. More water means rising sea levels. This means that lots of land would be underwater. There are places projected to be underwater in the next 30 years, but some are New York, San Francisco, London, Mumbai, Shanghai, and my home state of Massachusetts. Not only that, but many island nations (which you might not have even heard of) like Kiribati, the Maldives, the Marshall Islands, and all their traditions, foods, and customs will be lost.

#9: Russia

NOTE: Russia has invaded Ukraine. Updates will come in shortly

As I am writing this, I am also watching CNN. I don't often watch CNN or the news that often.  But if you have watched the news anytime in the last two weeks, you probably know. It is official: RUSSIA IS INVADING UKRAINE. Russia has bombed Kyiv (the capital) and invaded Belarus and from Russia. Russia has invaded Georgia and Ukraine before. However, I have reason to believe that this will be different. I have reason to believe that Russia will have a military occupation of Ukraine. NATO has already put troops in Germany, the Baltic States, Poland, Romania; All sides of Ukraine. I am worried about WWIII.

More info here.

I made this so that most of you are aware of the things that are happening. Please, if you take away anything from this article, it is to try to make the world better in any way.

-Leo