The world has avoided nuclear holocaust for the 60 years that the Doomsday Clock has been around, which suggests the Chicago-based timepiece originally should have been set at, say, 9:30 p.m., rather than seven minutes to midnight.
The clock remains a powerful symbol of the risk that the world could see a nuclear holocaust. Iran and North Korea seem intent on pushing the minute hand.
But the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the journal that created the clock, appears to have concluded that it needs a rewind. This week the Bulletin moved the clock’s time up two minutes, to 11:55 p.m. It was the 18th time the hands have been moved–but the first time that factors other than nuclear attack were factored in.
The scientists considered what they called other “threats to global survival,” such as global warming, the genetic engineering of diseases and the growing threats of terrorism.
“It’s time to pay attention in a very serious way to what we see as potentially civilization-ending technology and trends,” said Kennette Benedict, the Bulletin’s executive director. “We extended and really took the idea of doomsday seriously.”
It’s your clock, Ms. Benedict, and there are no inviolable rules–predicting doomsday is an inexact science. But one has to wonder whether mission creep has set in.
During the Cold War, the purpose of the clock was clear. The U.S. faced a distinct enemy–the Soviet Union–and both sides had the power to destroy each other in a moment.
Now, global warming and genetic engineering are very serious issues, but they don’t have anyone scurrying under the desk. Let’s face it, for most people if there were a clock on global warming, it would register five minutes before lunchtime.
The advice here for the Bulletin: Don’t change the message. The nuclear ambitions of rogue nations and terror organizations are enough to make us watch the clock with a sense of dread.
