The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists at 11 a.m. today will host an international news conference to announce the decision of its Science and Security Board of whether to adjust the minute hand of the historic “Doomsday Clock,” created in 1947 to symbolize and communicate the urgency of nuclear dangers to international public and political leaders. It is unclear whether the upcoming Science and Security Board decision will move the minute hand forward, backward, or keep it stationary. The last “Doomsday Clock” decision was made in 2012, when the Bulletin moved the minute hand from “6 minutes to midnight” to “5 minutes to midnight,” citing the “complex and interconnected” challenges to rid the world of nuclear weapons, harness nuclear power and address climate change. “Political processes seem wholly inadequate; the potential for nuclear weapons use in regional conflicts in the Middle East, Northeast Asia, and South Asia are alarming; safer nuclear reactor designs need to be developed and built, and more stringent oversight, training, and attention are needed to prevent future disasters; the pace of technological solutions to address climate change may not be adequate to meet the hardships that large-scale disruption of the climate portends,” the 2012 decision states.
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