Key movements of the clockġ947: The clock is created, with the time set at seven minutes to midnight.ġ949: A nuclear weapons test in the Soviet Union helps provoke an arms race. True, this isn’t as bad as moving the clock forward to two minutes to midnight would have been but given that 2015 was a year of record temperatures, a lack of progress is enough to be potentially catastrophic. It now looks like the optimism that allowed the clock to move back to six minutes in 2010 has evaporated as the promises of the UN Climate Change conference have failed to transform into concrete action. So should you be worried? I’m afraid the answer is most likely yes. In fact, their latest predictions suggest that the threat from nuclear weapons and climate change are intertwined: after all, replacing fossil fuels with nuclear energy demands building more reactors, and resource scarcity instigated by climate change can fuel conflict.Įxplaining their decision to keep this year’s time at three minutes to midnight, the scientists behind the clock said that despite some bright spots – the Iran nuclear deal and Paris talks – they were “dismayed” that politicians “continue to fail to focus their efforts and the world’s attention on reducing the extreme danger posed by nuclear weapons and climate change”. Since 2007, they have recognised the threat from climate change as part of their considerations. Composed of international experts in nuclear weaponry and climate science, the group meets twice a year to discuss the global situation and, after consulting colleagues in a range of disciplines, alter the clock as necessary. “A scientist himself, fluent in Russian, and a leader in the international disarmament movement, he was in constant conversation with scientists and experts within and outside governments in many parts of the world.” After his death, the task was taken up by the journal’s “Science and Security Board”. Until his death in 1973, the Bulletin’s editor Eugene Rabinowitch set the time. The clock has appeared in pop culture as a symbol of impending nuclear war, from the game Rise of Nations in which each nuclear missile fired costs a “tick” on the clock to the film adaptation of Alan Moore’s Watchmen, where the clock is an ominous reminder of the threat from nuclear weapons. The starting point of seven minutes was chosen, according to Langsdord, because it “looked good to my eye”. In their “Three minutes and counting” announcement from last year, the Bulletin explained how this image combined the ideas of “apocalypse (midnight)” with “the contemporary idiom of nuclear explosion (countdown to zero) to convey threats to humanity and the planet”. Originally designed by Martyl Langsdorf, the wife of one of the scientists involved, the design has changed over the years but retained its iconic “minutes to midnight”. Since its founding in 1947, it has featured the clock on every cover. Science and Technical Research and Development.Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities.Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives.Information and Communications Technology.HR, Training and Organisational Development.Health - Medical and Nursing Management.Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance.Events and Offers Sign up to receive information regarding NS events, subscription offers & product updates. Ideas and Letters A newsletter showcasing the finest writing from the ideas section and the NS archive, covering political ideas, philosophy, criticism and intellectual history - sent every Wednesday. Weekly Highlights A weekly round-up of some of the best articles featured in the most recent issue of the New Statesman, sent each Saturday. The Culture Edit Our weekly culture newsletter – from books and art to pop culture and memes – sent every Friday. Green Times The New Statesman’s weekly environment email on the politics, business and culture of the climate and nature crises - in your inbox every Thursday. The New Statesman Daily The best of the New Statesman, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. World Review The New Statesman’s global affairs newsletter, every Monday and Friday. The Crash A weekly newsletter helping you fit together the pieces of the global economic slowdown. Select and enter your email address Morning Call Quick and essential guide to domestic and global politics from the New Statesman's politics team.
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