At a press conference in New York City on Thursday, 14 January, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists made the decision to move the hand of the Doomsday Clock one minute farther away from midnight, the time which symbolises catastrophic destruction and the apocalyptic end of civilisation.
The clock now reads six minutes to midnight. The reasons for this are cited as an increased awareness and interest in stopping key threats to humanity (in particular nuclear conflict and global warming) since US President, Barack Obama, took office a year ago. Last month’s Copenhagen conference also raised optimism as it was the first time in the 17-year history of UN climate conferences that developing and industrialised countries all agreed to take responsibility for emissions, raising expectations that governments will begin to reduce carbon emissions through regulatory schemes; public and private investments in alternative energy sources; and promotion of energy efficiency. However, the Bulletin warned that this positive shifting of the clock could be reversed if the world’s governments don’t follow through on promises to curb the creation of more nuclear weapons and green house gases.
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists was established soon after World War II by Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer, among others, out of concern for global nuclear annihilation, but it has since broadened its scope to include the world’s vulnerability to climate change.
Since 1949, some of the major movements on the Doomsday Clock have included:
1949: three minutes to midnight after President Harry Truman told the US public that the Soviet Union has tested its first nuclear device, officially starting the arms race.
1953: the US decided to pursue the hydrogen bomb, a weapon even more powerful than the atom bombs used against Japan, and soon after, the Soviet Union tested an H-bomb of its own; this moved the clock forward to two minutes to midnight.
1972: 12 minutes to midnight after the US and the Soviet Union signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
1984: The US and the Soviet Union virtually cut off communications, and the US considers building an expansive, space-based anti-ballistic missile system, bringing the clock forward significantly to three minutes to midnight.
1991: with the Cold War officially over, the US and Russia began cutting their nuclear arsenals, turning back the clock to 17 minutes to midnight, although this was brought forward to 14 minutes in 1995 amid concerns that terrorists could obtain weapons from poorly secured nuclear facilities in Russia.
2007: most recently, the clock was pushed forward to two minutes to midnight, thanks partly to North Korea’s nuclear testing and concerns over Iran’s nuclear intentions.
The shifting of the Doomsday Clock has had a fair amount of coverage in the social media sphere, with some feeling that the move from five to six minutes to midnight is a positive sign of the state of the planet, while others remain critical of measuring Obama’s success so early into his presidential term, and still others feel that the Bulletin’s optimism is unfounded.
It is certainly an interesting take on where we are at in terms of preserving our planet and how far we need to push our green initiatives, as well as the way we should look at the wars going on around the world. What are your thoughts on this?
Visit www.turnbacktheclock.org for more information.
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