The effort to silence a 67‑year warning

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The effort to silence a 67‑year warning

Published: 31 Jul. 2025, 00:06

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Ko Jae-hyun

The author is a professor at the School of Semiconductor and Display Engineering, Hallym University.

In the midst of the Cold War, scientists devised the Doomsday Clock to warn of nuclear catastrophe. The closer the hands moved toward midnight, the nearer humanity was to disaster. As a child, seeing that clock on the news left me deeply anxious. After the Cold War ended, the clock receded to 17 minutes before midnight. Since last year, however, it has stood at 89 seconds to midnight. Russia’s war in Ukraine and the escalating climate crisis are now the key drivers.

A view of the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, photographed by a JoongAng Ilbo reporter in June 2017. [JOONGANG ILBO]

The clock reflects the sense of social responsibility carried by scientists. Yet, another timepiece measures the climate threat more concretely: the readings from Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. The late Charles Keeling began monitoring carbon dioxide there in 1958, recording 315 parts per million (ppm). By May of this year, the concentration surged to 430 ppm. Rising levels of this primary greenhouse gas now manifest in extreme heat waves, wildfires and other disasters across the globe.

Ice cores from Antarctica tell a stark story. Over the past 800,000 years, carbon dioxide levels never exceeded 300 ppm. Paleoclimatologists believe the recent levels may be unprecedented for at least 3 million years. The danger lies in the long‑lived nature of these gases. Much of the carbon dioxide released today will continue warming the planet for centuries, shaping not only our lives but the fate of distant generations.

Now, the Mauna Loa Observatory faces its own peril. The U.S. administration’s next budget proposal includes major cuts to climate research and would shutter supporting facilities for the Hawaiian site. The observatory that has quietly tracked humanity’s dwindling time for 67 years is itself under threat. Its plight is a symbolic reminder of how urgent the crisis has become.

The Keeling Curve, the upward line traced by decades of measurements, shows an accelerating climb. If the world ignores the warning and allows this steady rise to continue, that line may serve as the true clock hand inching toward midnight.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.