Korean time on Environmental Doomsday Clock creeps 26 minutes closer to midnight than last year

The Korean time on the 2018 Environmental Doomsday Clock

Contamination by chemicals named as most serious issue in South Korea

The Korean time on the 2018 Environmental Doomsday Clock

The Korean time on the 2018 Environmental Doomsday Clock, with a needle that approaches midnight as environmental crises inch closer to catastrophe, was set a 9:35, or 26 minutes later than last year. Globally, the clock hit extremely concerned level for first time since the survey’s launch in 1992.

“Based on a joint study with Japan’s Asahi Glass Foundation, the Korean time on the 2018 Environmental Doomsday clock was set at 9:35, which is 26 minutes closer to midnight than the 9:09 time last year,” the Korea Green Foundation said on Oct. 4. Using time to represent the level of environmental destruction, clock numbers have been announced every year since 1992 with times calculated according to the results of surveys of global environmental policy experts representing academia, civic groups, and the government.

Times up to 3 o’clock are considered “barely concerned,” while times from 3 to 6 are considered “slightly concerned,” 6 to 9 “fairly concerned,” and 9 to 12 “extremely concerned.”

In South Korea’s case, environmental contamination by chemicals was named as the most serious environmental issue (9:51).

“This appears to reflect feelings of concern about chemical products since last year due to the emergence of issues surrounding pesticides in eggs, feminine hygiene products with harmful ingredients, and the detection of radon in beds,” the Korea Green Foundation said. Other areas mentioned in addition to chemicals included lifestyles (9:47), population (9:42), climate change (9:31), biodiversity (9:16) and society/economy/environment (9:08).

Globally, the Environment Doomsday Clock was set at 9:47 for the year, 14 minutes later than in 2017. It was the most serious level yet since the first survey in 1992, which showed a time of 7:29.

“Among the countries examined, China’s Environmental Doomsday Time was 10:34, which was the highest crisis level in the world,” the foundation said.

“Since 2013, the Environmental Doomsday Clock has been approaching dangerous levels globally,” it added.

For the Environmental Doomsday Clock survey, 25,000 experts on environmental issues in 105 countries were questioned between April and June. In South Korea, around 60 environmental experts took part in the survey over a three-month period beginning in March.

By Hwang Geum-bi, staff reporter

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