The Doomsday Clock signifying global apocalypse moved one minute closer to midnight Tuesday, said atomic scientists, citing the failure of the United States to act on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and increasing nuclear tensions around the world.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced that the hands of the clock had been moved from six minutes until midnight to five minutes until midnight, which represents annihilation. The last time the clock moved closer to midnight was 2007.
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The Doomsday Clock was created in 1947 by University of Chicago scientists who helped in the development of the Manhattan Project. The decision to move the minute hand is made by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’s boards, which includes 18 Nobel laureates.
“It is five minutes to midnight. Two years ago, it appeared that world leaders might address the truly global threats that we face. In many cases, that trend has not continued or been reversed,” said the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists in a statement. “The clock is ticking.”
The decision of the world’s nuclear powers not to make progress on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty was a major reason for the change.
“Failure to act on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty by leaders in the United States, China, Iran, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Israel and North Korea, and on a treaty to cut off production of nuclear weapons material continues to leave the world at risk from continued development of nuclear weapons,” the organization said.
Also troubling to the scientists was the uncertainty of Iran’s nuclear program and increasing tensions in Northeast Asia and South Asia.
“Ongoing efforts to ease tensions, deal with extremism and terrorist acts, and reduce the role of nuclear weapons in international relations have had only halting success,” they wrote.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists added that climate change and questions arising from the Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster contributed to their decision to move the minute hand forward.
The Doomsday Clock’s minute hand last moved in January 2010, when it was pushed back from five to six minutes before midnight.