As if the inevitable effects of Climate Change wasn’t depressing enough, today the Doomsday Clock moved closer to midnight. We now stand at five munites to Nuclear Holocaust.
Created in 1947 by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the Doomsday Clock has been adjusted only 17 times prior to today, most recently in February 2002 after the events of 9/11.
By moving the hand of the Clock closer to midnight — the figurative end of civilization — the BAS Board of Directors is drawing attention to the increasing dangers from the spread of nuclear weapons in a world of violent conflict, and to the catastrophic harm from climate change that is unfolding. The BAS statement explains: “We stand at the brink of a Second Nuclear Age. Not since the first atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has the world faced such perilous choices. North Korea’s recent test of a nuclear weapon, Iran’s nuclear ambitions, a renewed emphasis on the military utility of nuclear weapons, the failure to adequately secure nuclear materials, and the continued presence of some 26,000 nuclear weapons in the United States and Russia are symptomatic of a failure to solve the problems posed by the most destructive technology on Earth.”
The pendulum has swung wildly over the years. Do I remember feeling safer back in 1991? You know, I remember the Berlin Wall falling, and the SALT talks with some Hollywood actor… strange days.
Let’s all get out there and hug, folks. Better to go out in a blaze of hippy love…
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