Former California governor Jerry Brown and former
secretary of defense William Perry unveil the Doomsday
Clock during a news conference on January 24, 2019 in
Washington, DC. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images/AFP)
“Humanity now faces two simultaneous existential
threats, either of which would be cause for extreme
concern and immediate attention,” the group said in
a statement.
“These major threats — nuclear weapons and
climate change — were exacerbated this past year by
the increased use of information warfare to
undermine democracy around the world, amplifying
risk from these and other threats and putting the
future of civilization in extraordinary danger.”
The clock did not budge from last year, but that
“should not be taken as a sign of stability,” said
Rachel Bronson, president and CEO of the group of
scholars and international experts in security,
nuclear, environmental and science fields.
“It is a state as worrisome as the most dangerous
times of the Cold War,” said Bronson at a press
conference in the US capital, describing the current
climate as “The New Abnormal.”
“The velocity of information has increased by
orders of magnitude, allowing information warfare
and fake news to flourish,” she said.
“It generates rage and polarization across the
globe at a time when we need calm and unity to solve
the globe’s greatest problems.”
This “New Abnormal” is “a state that features an
unpredictable and shifting landscape of simmering
disputes that multiply the chances for major
conflict to erupt,” she added.
“We appear to be normalizing a very dangerous
world in terms of the risks of nuclear warfare and
climate change.”
‘Bad news, indeed’
Robert Rosner, professor in astronomy and
astrophysics at the University of Chicago, described
this “New Abnormal” as “the disturbing reality in
which things are not getting better.”
“The fact that the Doomsday Clock’s hands did not
move is bad news indeed,” he said.
The Doomsday Clock was created in 1947. Its time
has changed on 20 occasions since then, ranging from
two minutes to midnight in 1953 — and again in 2018
— to 17 minutes before midnight in 1991.
In 2017 it moved up a 1/2 of a minute (30
seconds) to the 2 minute till midnight mark because
of Donald Trump!
Last year it moved up 30 seconds to two
minutes to midnight, as near as it has ever been
to the hour of the apocalypse, largely based on
concerns over the possibility of nuclear war
with North Korea and “unpredictability” from US
President Donald Trump.
Over the past year, the “rhetoric” between North
Korea and the United States “has eased but remains
extremely dangerous,” said Bronson.
Meanwhile, relations between the United States
and Russia “remain unacceptably strained.”
And on the environmental front, “carbon emissions
began to rise again after a period of plateauing,”
Bronson added.
On tensions with North Korea, former US defense
secretary William Perry said the latest talks
between the Washington and Pyongyang may have done
“nothing” to move North Korea away from its nuclear
program.
“On the other hand, and this is a big other hand,
it stopped the insults and threats between our two
countries, and therefore reduced the chances of
blundering into a war with North Korea,” Perry said.
Jerry Brown, executive chair of the Bulletin of
the Atomic Scientists and former governor of
California, said world leaders are not doing enough
to scale back the threat of nuclear weapons.
“The blindness and stupidity of the politicians
and their consultants is truly shocking in the face
of nuclear catastrophe and danger,” Brown said.
“We are almost like travelers on the Titanic, not
seeing the iceberg up ahead but enjoying the elegant
dining and music.”
Brown also took issue with journalists who report
on every word the US president utters on social
media.
“Journalists, yes, you love Trump’s tweets. You
love the news of the day. You love the leads that
get the clicks but the final click could be a
nuclear accident, or mistake, and that is what we
all have to be worried about.”