![]() We do devote one meeting to whether we’ll move the clock or not. Our board talks about the state of the world at each of its two annual meetings. We’re trying to tell people that we need to take action because all of the signs suggest we’re heading in the wrong direction.ĭescribe the process of how the Bulletin decides whether, and by how much, to move the Doomsday Clock. There’s nothing we can do about that now, but there are things we can change. That may not be tomorrow, but in the next 50 years we’ll see ocean levels rise 3 feet. The catastrophes may not be imminent, but unless we do things, like stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and tackle climate change head-on, we’ll face global catastrophe. What we’re trying to do with the clock is warn people. Do you earnestly think that a “global catastrophe” is imminent? It could be argued that the Doomsday Clock is a scare tactic used to bring attention to important issues. population is just a small minority of people who may not “get it,” although I think the younger people generally do “get it.” We’re seeing more intense storms because of climate change. The monsoon season has been affected, which is the basis for agriculture production in countries like India and China. Island nations are being swept up and looking for asylum because the sea levels are rising. It’s important to recognize that most people around the world are experiencing climate change. People often follow what leaders tell them and I think that may be the case here. Scientists have been looking at that for years. They may not agree that humans are causing it, but they agree that it’s happening. Senate that shows that most senators do in fact believe that climate change is upon us. In fact, there’s a trend of Americans caring less about climate change as the years progress. and China formed a joint agreement, but it’s still unclear whether we’ll have cooperative coordination going forward.Ī Gallup Poll taken last year suggests that most Americans don’t consider global warming a national concern. The Climate Change Conference in Peru last December was very contentious. On the climate change front, we’ve seen lots of good talk, but not enough action. It’s been deteriorating over the past two years, even before the situation in Ukraine. The distressing news now relates to the current relationship between the U.S. and Russia have been dismantling their nuclear weapon supplies. ![]() That is the $64 million question, isn’t it? We’ve had numerous agreements regarding nuclear weapons, like the Non-Proliferation Treaty, for many years since the Cold War. How do we attain global support on these matters? The issues of global warming and nuclear weapon proliferation are ones that require cooperation among numerous states. The other is the continuing reliance on nuclear weapons for security, including the modernization of existing weapons. One is the acceleration of climate change without any action from leaders around the world. To read the entire statement about why the Doomsday Clock stewards believe the world is as close to total catastrophe today as it was at the worst point in the Cold War, click here.Why has the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists decided to move the hands of the Doomsday Clock three minutes to midnight? The closest the Doomsday Clock has ever been to midnight was in 1953, when it reached 2 minutes to midnight after the U.S. ![]() and Soviet Union agreed to reduce their nuclear arsenals. The safest point in history seems to have been in 1991, when the clock was at 17 minutes to midnight after the U.S. And in 1949, the clock was set at 3 minutes to midnight when the Soviet Union tested their first nuclear device. It was previously set at 3 minutes to midnight in 1984, during a particularly scary moment during the Cold War where communication between the U.S. “Today, unchecked climate change and a nuclear arms race resulting from modernization of huge arsenals pose extraordinary and undeniable threats to the continued existence of humanity,” Kennette Benedict, executive director of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, said.įounded by University of Chicago scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project, The Doomsday Clock has been long considered a metaphor for the vulnerability of the human race.īut the hands of the clock can move forward and backward in time.
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