Recently, it was indicated that the Doomsday Clock went up to 100 seconds to midnight. Such a fact represent the closest metaphorical period from an “apocalypse” since 1953. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists released the report this week.
“We argued that the global situation was abnormal,” stated president and Ceo of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, Rachel Bronson. She also detailed how climate and nuclear occurrences are “worsening.”
Robert Rosner, an astrophysicist, explained: “The fact that the clock is now a mere 100 seconds from midnight signals really bad news. Past experience has taught us that even in the most dismal periods of the Cold War, we can come together.” As for the nuclear weapons, Georgetown University professor, Sharon Squassoni, explained how terrible the situation it is.
Tensions between nuclear powers made the Doomsday Clock get down to 100 seconds to midnight
Sharon Squassoni mentioned the recent crash of the Iran nuclear agreement, the permanent buildout of weapons from Russia, the US, and China, and the reemergence of North Korea’s atomic skills. The Clock signals the approaching hazards and takes into account nuclear weaponry, increasing geopolitical pressures, and alterations to the environment, too.
The clock was developed in 1947 at the start of the firearms competition between the Soviet Union and the US. Since 2007, climate variation has been a reason in the groups’ settlements. Back in 2018, for example, BAS directed the clock to two minutes to midnight, indicating President Trump’s proactive speech to fellow global forces, North Korea’s permanent nuclear weaponry, and ballistic projectile trials, and intensified balances between Russia and the US.
The farthest from midnight was reported back in 1991 when the clock went back to 17 minutes after the Soviet Union and the US agreed upon the first Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. In 2019, however, the clock stayed at two minutes to midnight.
