WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 (UPI) — Scientists behind the Doomsday Clock, an unscientific measure of how close humanity is to destroying civilization, decided to keep the countdown at three minutes to midnight.
The clock, created by the board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, will remain at 11: 57 p.m., meaning “doomsday” is no closer than it was the year before.
“Small bright spots in a darker world situation full of potential for catastrophe,” including the Iran nuclear agreement and the Paris climate accord, prompted the publication’s board to keep the clock static.
“In keeping the hands of the Doomsday Clock at three minutes to midnight, the members of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Science and Security Board mean to make a clear statement: The world situation remains highly threatening to humanity, and decisive action to reduce the danger posed by nuclear weapons and climate change is urgently required,” board members said in a written statement.
The bulletin was founded in 1945 by University of Chicago scientists who helped build the atomic bomb. The clock was created, with hands showing seven minutes to midnight, in 1947 to reflect the “urgency of the nuclear dangers.” In 1991, with the Cold War officially over and pledges from the United States and Russia to tamp down their nuclear arsenal, the clock was set 17 minutes to midnight, the widest time span it has seen in its 69 year history.
