Doomsday Clock Turned Back One Minute
- 14 years ago
The Doomsday Clock has just turned back by one minute. Scientists created the symbolic clock following World War II to warn the world of how close it is coming to self-annihilation.
The symbolic Doomsday Clock that shows how close humankind is to the apocalypse, was moved back to six minutes before midnight from five minutes on Thursday.
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (BAS), which maintains the clock and puts an illustration of it on its cover, attributed the move to efforts by world leaders to reduce their countries' nuclear arsenals and collaborate on climate stabilization.
[Lawrence Krauss, Co-Chairperson, BAS Board of Sponsors]:
"At this time, I'd like to announce that the hands of the Doomsday Clock are being moved back, for the first time in its history, by just one minute."
[Lawrence Krauss, Co-Chairperson, BAS Board of Sponsors]:
"For the first time since atomic bombs were dropped in 1945, leaders of nuclear weapons states are cooperating to vastly reduce their arsenals and secure all nuclear bomb-making material. And for the first time ever, industrialized and developing countries alike, are pledging to limit climate-changing gas emissions that could render our planet nearly uninhabitable."
The group, which includes 19 Nobel laureates, said a key to the positive alteration is the U.S. government's "orientation toward international affairs,” largely spearheaded by President Barack Obama.
The last reset was in 2007, when the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved it forward by two minutes citing North Korea's test of a nuclear weapon, Iran's nuclear ambitions and a renewed U.S. emphasis on the military utility of nuclear weapons.
The symbolic Doomsday Clock that shows how close humankind is to the apocalypse, was moved back to six minutes before midnight from five minutes on Thursday.
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (BAS), which maintains the clock and puts an illustration of it on its cover, attributed the move to efforts by world leaders to reduce their countries' nuclear arsenals and collaborate on climate stabilization.
[Lawrence Krauss, Co-Chairperson, BAS Board of Sponsors]:
"At this time, I'd like to announce that the hands of the Doomsday Clock are being moved back, for the first time in its history, by just one minute."
[Lawrence Krauss, Co-Chairperson, BAS Board of Sponsors]:
"For the first time since atomic bombs were dropped in 1945, leaders of nuclear weapons states are cooperating to vastly reduce their arsenals and secure all nuclear bomb-making material. And for the first time ever, industrialized and developing countries alike, are pledging to limit climate-changing gas emissions that could render our planet nearly uninhabitable."
The group, which includes 19 Nobel laureates, said a key to the positive alteration is the U.S. government's "orientation toward international affairs,” largely spearheaded by President Barack Obama.
The last reset was in 2007, when the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved it forward by two minutes citing North Korea's test of a nuclear weapon, Iran's nuclear ambitions and a renewed U.S. emphasis on the military utility of nuclear weapons.