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What is the Doomsday Clock and why should we keep track of the time?

TJRyan Foundation Research Associate, Professor Ian Lowe, writes in The Conversation (27.1.17) about the recent announcement that the so-called Doomsday Clock had been set to two-and-a-half minutes to midnight. But, the author asks, what is the clock and why should we pay attention?

‘It made headlines recently when the Doomsday Clock was shifted from three minutes to midnight to a new setting of two and a half minutes to midnight.

‘That is the nearest the clock has been to midnight for more than fifty years. The body responsible for the clock said, “the probability of global catastrophe is very high, and the actions needed to reduce the risks of disaster must be taken very soon.” It should be an urgent warning to world leaders.

‘The idea of a Doomsday Clock was conceived by the editorial staff of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, which was founded by many of the scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project.

‘When that publication graduated from being an internal newsletter among the nuclear science community to being a formal magazine in 1947, the clock appeared on the cover. 

‘… As the 2017 report said, “It is two and a half minutes to midnight, the Clock is ticking, global danger looms. Wise public officials should act immediately, guiding humanity away from the brink. If they do not, wise citizens must step forward and lead the way.”

‘This really is a call to arms and deserves more attention from our media.’

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