{"id":86053,"date":"2017-01-30T12:00:22","date_gmt":"2017-01-30T12:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=86053"},"modified":"2017-01-29T14:19:10","modified_gmt":"2017-01-29T14:19:10","slug":"doomsday-clock-moves-ahead-it-is-now-two-and-a-half-minutes-to-midnight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2017\/01\/doomsday-clock-moves-ahead-it-is-now-two-and-a-half-minutes-to-midnight\/","title":{"rendered":"Doomsday Clock Moves Ahead: It Is Now Two and a Half Minutes to Midnight"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>25 Jan 2017<\/em> \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>It is now two and a half minutes to midnight.\u00a0 For the first time in the 70-year history of the Doomsday Clock, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists<\/em>\u2019 Science and Security Board<\/a> has moved the hands of the iconic clock 30 seconds closer to midnight. In another first, the Board has decided to act, in part, based on the words of a single person:\u00a0 Donald Trump, the new President of the United States.<\/p>\n

The decision to move the hands of the Doomsday Clock<\/a> is made by the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists<\/em>in consultation with the Bulletin<\/em>\u2019s Board of Sponsors, which includes 15 Nobel Laureates.\u00a0 The Science and Security Board\u2019s full statement<\/a> about the Clock is available online.<\/p>\n

In January 2016, the Doomsday Clock\u2019s minute hand did not change, remaining at three minutes before midnight. The Clock was changed in 2015 from five to three minutes to midnight, the closest it had been since the arms race of the 1980s.<\/p>\n

In the statement about the Doomsday Clock, the Bulletin<\/em>\u2019s Science and Security Board notes: \u201cOver the course of 2016, the global security landscape darkened as the international community failed to come effectively to grips with humanity\u2019s most pressing existential threats, nuclear weapons and climate change \u2026 This already-threatening world situation was the backdrop for a rise in strident nationalism worldwide in 2016, including in a US presidential campaign during which the eventual victor, Donald Trump, made disturbing comments about the use and proliferation of nuclear weapons and expressed disbelief in the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change \u2026The board\u2019s decision to move the clock less than a full minute \u2014 something it has never before done \u2014 reflects a simple reality: As this statement is issued, Donald Trump has been the US president only a matter of days \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement continues: \u201cJust the same, words matter, and President Trump has had plenty to say over the last year. Both his statements and his actions as President-elect have broken with historical precedent in unsettling ways. He has made ill-considered comments about expanding the US nuclear arsenal. He has shown a troubling propensity to discount or outright reject expert advice related to international security, including the conclusions of intelligence experts. And his nominees to head the Energy Department, and the Environmental Protection Agency dispute the basics of climate science. In short, even though he has just now taken office, the president\u2019s intemperate statements, lack of openness to expert advice, and questionable cabinet nominations have already made a bad international security situation worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

In addition to addressing the statements made by President Trump, the Board also expressed concern about the greater global context of nuclear and climate issues:<\/p>\n