Tuesday, January 16, 2007

6 minutes to midnight: Doomsday ticks ever closer

Can't resist posting on the up coming advancement of the doomsday clock that currently stands at 7 minutes to midnight, where midnight reflects "doomsday".

Given it was at "2 minutes to midnight" in 1953 (name that tune), as the threat of nuclear disaster rescinded, the increased threat of environmental disaster keeps the clock ticking forwards.

Only economics can save us now.

Scientists Prepare to Move Doomsday Clock Forward
WASHINGTON - The keepers of the "Doomsday Clock" plan to move its hands forward next Wednesday to reflect what they call worsening nuclear and climate threats to the world.

The symbolic clock, maintained by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, currently is set at seven minutes to midnight, with midnight marking global catastrophe.

The group did not say in which direction the hands would move. But in a news release previewing an event next Wednesday, they said the change was based on "worsening nuclear, climate threats" to the world.

"The major new step reflects growing concerns about a 'Second Nuclear Age' marked by grave threats, including: nuclear ambitions in Iran and North Korea, unsecured nuclear materials in Russia and elsewhere, the continuing 'launch-ready' status of 2,000 of the 25,000 nuclear weapons held by the US and Russia, escalating terrorism, and new pressure from climate change for expanded civilian nuclear power that could increase proliferation risks," the release reads.

The clock was last pushed forward by two minutes to seven minutes to midnight in 2002 amid concerns about the proliferation of nuclear, biological and other weapons and the threat of terrorism.

When it was created by the magazine's staff in 1947, it was initially set at seven minutes to midnight and has moved 17 times since then.

It was as close as two minutes to midnight in 1953 following US and Soviet hydrogen bomb tests, and as far away as 17 minutes to midnight in 1991 after the superpowers reached agreement on a nuclear arms reductions.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It seems that man, not content with merely creating Nuclear weapons, feels the need to add to its own collective woes by ignoring yet another life-threatening problem. Makes sense to move the clock forward, but we've had some good news regarding politicians and economically minded types so perhaps we can push it back just a tiny notch.

Anonymous said...

It also comes to balance and counter balance, as one nation acquires such a such a number of nuclear weapons or at the least to techno no how, others naturally copy them to maintain the balance which though militarily threatening, can be relatively unstable.

Then there is also the perceived threat, which is all to common with the Bush Administration. More on that later...

Jiesheng Li
First Year Econs and Pol Sci Student
Uni of Birmingham