https://ift.tt/2gKvzPo remains 100 seconds to midnight on the “Doomsday Clock,” the famous annual announcement for how close humanity is to extinction.
The Chicago-based non-profit Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists kept the analog hands at the same time for a second year in a row — the closest it has been to midnight during its 75 years.
“The Doomsday Clock is holding steady at 100 seconds to midnight. But steady is not good news. In fact, it reflects the judgment of the board, that we are stuck in a perilous moment, one that brings neither stability nor security,” said Sharon Squassoni, co-chair of the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board and George Washington University research professor.
Among key concerns, according to Squassoni and others who help set the clock’s time, are a lack of stability in the nuclear arms race, tension over Ukraine and nascent efforts to craft strategic stability with China.
“The Doomsday Clock is not set by good intentions, but rather by evidence of action, or in this case inaction,” noted Scott Sagan, a Stanford University political science professor.
In addition to concerns about China, Sagan specifically mentioned Iran’s nuclear proliferation and North Korea.
“I am very worried about the situation in North Korea, not just because of concerns about North Korean decision making, but because of the risk of an accidental or unauthorized use there,” said Sagan in response to a question from VOA’s Korean Service.
First unveiled in 1947 — at seven minutes to midnight — amid the increasing chill of the Cold War, the clock was originally intended to warn of the possibility of civilization being destroyed in a nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union. Two years later, the hands moved on what had been a static clock — to three minutes to midnight — after the first Soviet nuclear weapons test. In 1953, the hands moved forward again to two minutes to midnight, after the Americans and Russians detonated the first thermonuclear weapons.