A panel of scientists and scholars believe the world is as close to the time of apocalypse as it’s ever been. ???? The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the symbolic Doomsday Clock ahead by 30 seconds today.
So what exactly does this mean? The #DoomsdayClock is a countdown to a possible global catastrophe based on different political, social, economic and technological elements. When the clock strikes twelve, that’s not a good sign. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists have been tracking this since the 1940’s and they just moved the clock to two minutes until midnight. (Last year it moved from three minutes to two and a half making this year’s calculation the closest it’s ever been.)
They are pleading with world leaders to take steps to rewind the clock. “It is with considerable concern that we set the time of the 2018 doomsday clock and offer a plea to rewind the doomsday clock,” said CEO Rachel Bronson. “As of today, it is two minutes to midnight.”
So what exactly is driving us closer to a global disaster? Nuclear weapons. “North Korea’s nuclear weapons program made remarkable progress in 2017, increasing risks to North Korea itself, other countries in the region, and the United States,” the Bulletin’s report states. “Hyperbolic rhetoric and provocative actions by both sides have increased the possibility of nuclear war by accident or miscalculation.”
There is a group called Global Zero who wants to to see a world without nuclear weapons and says that Trump having the power to let lose at any moment was a key factor in the Doomsday Clock ticking forward.
“Today’s Doomsday Clock announcement must serve as an urgent wake-up call — and could be the last one we get,” executive director Derek Johnson says.
“Last year, the Clock ticked forward largely in response to candidate Trump’s alarming campaign rhetoric. But the reality of a nuclear-armed President Trump running loose in the world is worse than we feared, and that is clearly a central factor in this decision,” Johnson said.
TSR STAFF: Talia O. @theclosetratchet on IG
Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/science/2018/01/25/doomsday-clock-ticks-closer-midnight/1064911001/
