Jan. 25 (UPI) — The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists reset its “Doomsday Clock” Thursday in Washington, D.C., predicting the world is 30 seconds closer to annihilation, thanks to President Donald Trump.
Scientists with the organization made their annual update, revealing how close earth is to “midnight” — the closer we are, the greater the chance of annihilation.
The 2018 clock was set to “2 minutes” to midnight. The clock for last year was set at two-and-a-half minutes to midnight.
Bulletin scientists said in their announcement that Trump’s administration is “unable to develop, coordinate and clearly communicate a coherent foreign, much less nuclear, policy.”
They criticized Trump for his “dislike” of the Iran nuclear deal.
“President Trump himself has never offered a single viable alternative, but so far hasn’t been willing to unilaterally pull out of the deal as he has threatened,” said Sharon Squassoni, a George Washington University professor who is on the Bulletin Science and Security Board, adding that Trump is “hardly” providing a recipe for stability.
Weather also played a factor in the Bulletin’s update: wildfires in the United States and Canada, hurricanes in the Caribbean and extreme heat waves in Australia.
“What can improve is a shift in our willingness, our ability and our effectiveness at reducing emissions to head off the worst climate impact and managing what climate impacts are unavoidable.”
The panel criticized Trump for his withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and said he followed through on his promise of “derailing” climate change action.
The hands were the furthest from midnight in 1991 — 17 minutes to midnight — with the end of the Cold War and the signing of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union.
