Doomsday Clock Now Gives Us One More Minute to Live

According to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists the world has taken one more step back from nuclear annihilation. The “Doomsday Clock” now stands at 11:54.

Although tensions are escalating in certain areas such as North Korea and the Middle East, Kate Hudson, from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, says the move is a result of improving U.S./Russian relations. ”This shift reflects the significant improvement [in relations] since the end of the Bush era. Both Presidents Obama and Medvedev are committed to nuclear abolition and have put the issue firmly at the centre of the international political agenda.”

Since its inception in 1947, the clock has been a symbolic barometer of the likelihood of the demise of human civilization, produced by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. The group has included such luminaries amongst its members as Stephen Hawking and 19 Nobel Laureates. The “Doomsday Clock” has been moved a total of 19 times in its history depending on nuclear, environmental, and technological threats.

The earliest the clock has ever read was 11:43, in 1991 after the signing of the START nuclear weapon accords between Russia and the United States. The closest the clock came to striking midnight was 11:58 in 1953.