Doomsday clock is closest we have ever been

This morning, January 25, 2018, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the hands on its Doomsday Clock closer to midnight: at two minutes to midnight, the clock is set at the closest we have ever been since 1953 when the clock was also moved forward to that same time. It sent an ominous and urgent warning to the world that we are risking a global genocide and nuclear winter should we continue on the path of bellicose rhetoric and taunts about the possesion of the most deadly and inhumane weapons ever invented. The clock's time is a sad contrast to the heroic efforts this past year of ICAN and others to secure a nuclear weapons ban at the UN, an achievement that merited the organization the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Bulletin's decision was prompted by the "perilous and chaotic year" since President Trump's election during which "we saw reckless language in the nuclear realm heat up already dangerous situations and re-learned that minimizing evidence-based assessments regarding climate and other global challenges does not lead to better public policies," said Rachel Bronson, PhD, President and CEO of the Bulletin.

"Although the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists focuses on nuclear risk, climate change, and emerging technologies, the nuclear landscape takes center stage in this year’s Clock statement," Bronson said in her statement. "Major nuclear actors are on the cusp of a new arms race, one that will be very expensive and will increase the likelihood of accidents and misperceptions. Across the globe, nuclear weapons are poised to become more rather than less usable because of nations’ investments in their nuclear arsenals. This is a concern that the Bulletin has been highlighting for some time, but momentum toward this new reality is increasing. More