Doomsday Clock is 100 seconds to midnight, the symbolic hour of the apocalypse
Source: Washington Post
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is moving the Doomsday Clock up to 100 seconds to midnight -- a metaphor for the end of the world -- in a recognition of growing threats from nuclear war, climate change and disinformation.
The clock had been at two minutes to midnight since 2018. Now, the looming dangers are captured in a smaller unit in a testament to the need for urgent action, the Bulletin said Thursday, as its president warned of influential leaders who "denigrate and discard the most effective methods for addressing complex threats."
The latest jump closer to midnight "signals really bad news," said astrophysicist Robert Rosner, part of the Bulletin's Science and Security Board. "What we said last year is now a disturbing reality in that things are not getting better."
The group's reasoning has traditionally focused on the availability of nuclear weapons and a willingness among the world's great powers to use them, and members of the Bulletin's Science and Security Board pointed this year to a host of concerning developments -- including the prospect of a deal limiting Iran's nuclear development completely falling apart, after Iran began reducing its compliance following the U.S.'s withdrawal under President Trump.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/01/23/doomsday-clock/
2020 Doomsday Clock Statement
Science and Security Board
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
To: Leaders and citizens of the world
Re: Closer than ever: It is 100 seconds to midnight
Date: January 23, 2020
Humanity continues to face two simultaneous existential dangers—nuclear war and climate change—that are compounded by a threat multiplier, cyber-enabled information warfare, that undercuts society’s ability to respond. The international security situation is dire, not just because these threats exist, but because world leaders have allowed the international political infrastructure for managing them to erode.
In the nuclear realm, national leaders have ended or undermined several major arms control treaties and negotiations during the last year, creating an environment conducive to a renewed nuclear arms race, to the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and to lowered barriers to nuclear war. Political conflicts regarding nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea remain unresolved and are, if anything, worsening. US-Russia cooperation on arms control and disarmament is all but nonexistent.
Public awareness of the climate crisis grew over the course of 2019, largely because of mass protests by young people around the world. Just the same, governmental action on climate change still falls far short of meeting the challenge at hand. At UN climate meetings last year, national delegates made fine speeches but put forward few concrete plans to further limit the carbon dioxide emissions that are disrupting Earth’s climate. This limited political response came during a year when the effects of manmade climate change were manifested by one of the warmest years on record, extensive wildfires, and quicker-than-expected melting of glacial ice.
Continued corruption of the information ecosphere on which democracy and public decision making depend has heightened the nuclear and climate threats. In the last year, many governments used cyber-enabled disinformation campaigns to sow distrust in institutions and among nations, undermining domestic and international efforts to foster peace and protect the planet.
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FWIW, my immediate response is, let's eat pie. From now on, I'll have one ready at all times.
