[Infowarrior] - "Doomsday Clock" Moves Two Minutes Closer To Midnight

[Richard Forno]

"Doomsday Clock" Moves Two Minutes Closer To Midnight
http://www.thebulletin.org/weekly-highlight/20070117.html

17 January 2007 | 10:14 PM

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Adjusts Clock From 7 to 5 Minutes Before
Midnight; ³ Deteriorating² Global Situation Cited on Nuclear Weapons and New
Factor: Climate Change.

WASHINGTON, D.C. and LONDON, ENGLAND /// January 17, 2007 /// The Bulletin
of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) is moving the minute hand of the Doomsday
Clock two minutes closer to midnight. It is now 5 minutes to midnight.
Reflecting global failures to solve the problems posed by nuclear weapons
and the climate crisis, the decision by the BAS Board of Directors was made
in consultation with the Bulletin¹s Board of Sponsors, which includes 18
Nobel Laureates.

BAS announced the Clock change today at an unprecedented joint news
conference held at the American Association for the Advancement of Science
in Washington, DC, and the Royal Society in London. In a statement
supporting the decision to move the hand of the Doomsday Clock, the BAS
Board focused on two major sources of catastrophe: the perils of 27,000
nuclear weapons, 2000 of them ready to launch within minutes; and the
destruction of human habitats from climate change. In articles by 14 leading
scientists and security experts writing in the January-February issue of
theBulletin of the Atomic Scientists (http://www.thebulletin.org), the
potential for catastrophic damage from human-made technologies is explored
further.

Created in 1947 by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the Doomsday Clock
has been adjusted only 17 times prior to today, most recently in February
2002 after the events of 9/11.

By moving the hand of the Clock closer to midnight ‹ the figurative end of
civilization ‹ the BAS Board of Directors is drawing attention to the
increasing dangers from the spread of nuclear weapons in a world of violent
conflict, and to the catastrophic harm from climate change that is
unfolding. The BAS statement explains: "We stand at the brink of a Second
Nuclear Age. Not since the first atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki has the world faced such perilous choices. North Korea¹s recent
test of a nuclear weapon, Iran¹s nuclear ambitions, a renewed emphasis on
the military utility of nuclear weapons, the failure to adequately secure
nuclear materials, and the continued presence of some 26,000 nuclear weapons
in the United States and Russia are symptomatic of a failure to solve the
problems posed by the most destructive technology on Earth."

The BAS statement continues: "The dangers posed by climate change are nearly
as dire as those posed by nuclear weapons. The effects may be less dramatic
in the short term than the destruction that could be wrought by nuclear
explosions, but over the next three to four decades climate change could
cause irremediable harm to the habitats upon which human societies depend
for survival."

Stephen Hawking, a BAS sponsor, professor of mathematics at the University
of Cambridge, and a fellow of The Royal Society, said: "As scientists, we
understand the dangers of nuclear weapons and their devastating effects, and
we are learning how human activities and technologies are affecting climate
systems in ways that may forever change life on Earth. As citizens of the
world, we have a duty to alert the public to the unnecessary risks that we
live with every day, and to the perils we foresee if governments and
societies do not take action now to render nuclear weapons obsolete and to
prevent further climate change."

Kennette Benedict, executive director, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists,
said: "As we stand at the brink of a Second Nuclear Age and at the onset of
unprecedented climate change, our way of thinking about the uses and control
of technologies must change to prevent unspeakable destruction and future
human suffering."

Sir Martin Rees, president of The Royal Society, professor of cosmology and
astrophysics , master of Trinity College at the University of Cambridge, and
a BAS sponsor, said: "Nuclear weapons still pose the most catastrophic and
immediate threat to humanity, but climate change and emerging technologies
in the life sciences also have the potential to end civilization as we know
it."

Lawrence M. Krauss, professor of physics and astronomy at Case Western
Reserve University, an a BAS sponsor, said: "In these dangerous times,
scientists have a responsibility to speak truth to power especially if it
might provoke actions to reduce threats from the preventable technological
dangers currently facing humanity. To do anything else would be negligent."

Ambassador Thomas Pickering, a BAS director and co-chair of the
International Crisis Group, said: "Although our current situation is dire,
we have the means today to successfully address these global problems. For
example, through vigorous diplomacy and international agencies like the
International Atomic Energy Agency, we can negotiate and implement
agreements that could protect us all from the most destructive technology on
Earth‹nuclear weapons."

Highlights of the new statement from the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists
include the following:

    * "The second nuclear era, unlike the dawn of the first nuclear age in
1945, is characterized by a world of porous national borders, rapid
communications that facilitate the spread of technical knowledge, and
expanded commerce in potentially dangerous dual-use technologies and
materials. The Pakistan-based network that provided nuclear technologies to
Libya, North Korea, and Iran, is an example of the new challenges
confronting the international community."
    * "Sixteen years after the end of the Cold War, following substantial
reductions in nuclear weapons by the United States and Russia, the two major
powers have now stalled in their progress toward deeper reductions in their
arsenals."
    * "More than 1400 metric tons of highly enriched uranium and
approximately 500 tons of plutonium are distributed worldwide at some 140
sites, in unguarded civilian power plants and university research reactors,
as well as in military facilities."
    * "Global warming poses a dire threat to human civilization that is
second only to nuclear weapons. Through flooding and desertification,
climate change threatens the habitats and agricultural resources that
societies depend upon for survival. As such, climate change is also likely
to contribute to mass migrations and even to wars over arable land, water,
and other natural resources."
    * "The prospect of civilian nuclear power development in countries
around the world raises further concerns about the availability of nuclear
materials. Growth in nuclear power is anticipated to be especially high in
Asia, where Japan is planning to bring on line five new plants by 2010, and
China intends to build 30 nuclear reactors by 2020."
    * "Several factors are driving the turn to nuclear power‹ aging nuclear
reactors, rising energy demands, a desire to diversify energy portfolios and
reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and the need to reduce carbon emissions
that cause climate change. Yet expansion of nuclear power increases the
risks of nuclear proliferation."

The BAS statement also outlines a number of steps that, if taken
immediately, could help to prevent disaster, including the following:

    * Reduce the launch readiness of U.S. and Russian nuclear forces and
completely remove nuclear weapons from the day-to-day operations of their
militaries.
    * Reduce the number of nuclear weapons by dismantling, storing, and
destroying more than 20,000 warheads over the next 10 years, as well as
greatly increasing efforts to locate, store, and secure nuclear materials in
Russia and elsewhere.
    * Stop production of nuclear weapons material, including highly enriched
uranium and plutonium‹w hether in military or civilian facilities.
    * Engage in serious and candid discussion about the potential expansion
of nuclear power worldwide. While nuclear energy production does not produce
carbon dioxide, it does raise other significant concerns, such as the health
and environmental hazards of nuclear waste, the production of nuclear
materials that can be diverted to the production of weapons, and the safety
and security of the plants themselves.

ABOUT BAS AND THE CLOCK

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was founded in 1945 by University of
Chicago scientists who had worked on the Manhattan Project and were deeply
concerned about the use of nuclear weapons and nuclear war. In 1947 the
Bulletin introduced its clock to convey the perils posed by nuclear weapons
through a simple design. The Doomsday Clock evoked both the imagery of
apocalypse (midnight) and the contemporary idiom of nuclear explosion
(countdown to zero). In 1949 Bulletin leaders realized that movement of the
minute hand would signal the organization¹s assessment of world events. The
decision to move the minute hand is made by the Bulletin¹s Board of
Directors in consultation with its Board of Sponsors, which includes 18
Nobel Laureates. The Bulletin¹s Doomsday Clock has become a universally
recognized indicator of the world¹s vulnerability to nuclear weapons and
other threats. Additional information is available on the Web at
http://www.thebulletin.org.

CONTACT: Patrick Mitchell, (703) 276-3266 or pmitchell at hastingsgroup.com.

EDITORS NOTE: A streaming audio replay of the news event will be available
on the Web at http://www.thebulletin.org as of 6 p.m. ET and 11 p.m. in
London/2300 GMT on January 17, 2007.