‘Doomsday Clock’ Swings To 2-Minute Countdown Due To Nuclear Threat

By Jesselyn Cook

The apocalypse is now as close as it has ever been, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Doomsday Clock, which on Thursday ticked 30 seconds closer to midnight ― the symbolic end of humanity.

The clock now stands ominously at 11:58 p.m., a time reached only once before in its seven-decade history, when fears surrounding the Cold War nuclear arms race surged in 1953. The academic journal, which covers global security, established the clock as a metaphorical tool to annually measure the world’s countdown to its final moment. It was first set at seven minutes to midnight in 1947.

In a statement released Thursday morning, the Bulletin identified three “obvious and imminent” dangers that caused the clock to swing forward by 30 seconds since its 2017 assessment: 

1. The untenable nuclear threat
2. An insufficient response to climate change
3. Emerging technologies and global risk

“The time change was mostly focused this time around on nuclear considerations,” John Mecklin, the Bulletin’s editor-in-chief, told HuffPost. “There’s a wide range of nuclear considerations, but North Korea and U.S.-Russia relations were significant factors in the decision.”

Click here for the full article. 

Source: The Huffington Post