Doomsday Clock: Difference between revisions
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{{Dablink|"Minutes to Midnight" redirects here, along with other titles incorporating that term. For other uses, see [[Minutes to Midnight (disambiguation)]]. For the Smashing Pumpkins song, see [[Doomsday Clock (song)]].}} |
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[[File:Doomsday clock.svg|thumb|100px|right|As of January 2010, the Doomsday Clock reads 11:54pm.]] |
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The '''Doomsday Clock''' is a symbolic clock face, maintained since 1947 by the board of directors of the ''[[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]]'' at the [[University of Chicago]]. The closer the clock is to midnight, the closer the world is estimated to be to global disaster. {{As of|2010|1|14|df=US}}, the Doomsday Clock now stands at six minutes to midnight.<ref name="2010Pressrelease" >{{cite web |
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|url=http://thebulletin.org/content/media-center/announcements/2010/01/14/it-6-minutes-to-midnight |
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|publisher=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists |
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|accessdate=2010-01-14 |
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|title=It is 6 minutes to midnight |
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}}</ref><ref>[http://www.turnbacktheclock.org/ http://www.turnbacktheclock.org/]</ref> Since its creation, the time on the clock has changed 19 times.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2010/01/14/Doomsday-Clock-pushed-back-1-minute/UPI-38141263502473/ | title= Doomsday clock pushed back 1 minute| publisher= [[UPI]]| date= January 14, 2010 | accessdate= 2010-01-14}}</ref> |
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Originally, the analogy represented the threat of [[Nuclear holocaust|global nuclear war]], but since 2007 it has also reflected [[climate change|climate-changing]] technologies and "new developments in the life sciences and [[nanotechnology]] that could inflict irrevocable harm."<ref name="2007Pressrelease">{{cite web |
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|url=http://www.thebulletin.org/content/media-center/announcements/2007/01/17/doomsday-clock-moves-two-minutes-closer-to-midnight |
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|publisher=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists |
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|accessdate=2007-07-19 |
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|title='Doomsday Clock' Moves Two Minutes Closer To Midnight |
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}}</ref> |
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[[File:Bulletin Atomic Scientists Cover.jpg|thumb|Cover of the 1947 ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'' issue that first featured the Doomsday Clock at seven minutes to midnight.]] |
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Since its inception, the clock has been depicted on every cover of the ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists''. Its first representation was in 1947, when magazine co-founder Hyman Goldsmith asked artist Martyl Langsdorf (wife of [[Manhattan Project]] research associate and [[Szilárd petition]] signatory Alexander Langsdorf, Jr.) to design a cover for the magazine's June 1947 issue. |
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==Time changes== |
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In 1947, during the [[Cold War]], the clock was started at seven minutes to midnight and was subsequently advanced or rewound per the state of the world and [[nuclear warfare|nuclear war]] prospects. Setting the clock is relatively arbitrary, and decided by the directors of the ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'' reflecting global affairs. The clock has not always been set and reset as quickly as events occur; the closest nuclear war threat, the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] in 1962, reached crisis, climax, and resolution before it could be set to reflect that possible doomsday. |
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The most recent officially-announced setting — six minutes to midnight — was on 14 January 2010.<ref name="2010Pressrelease" /><ref>{{cite web| url=http://metachat.org/index.php/2007/01/12/the_bulletin_of_atomic_scientists | title="DOOMSDAY CLOCK" HAND TO BE MOVED, REFLECTING WORSENING NUCLEAR, CLIMATE THREATS TO WORLD | publisher=metachat.org| date=12 January 2007| accessdate=2010-01-15}}</ref> Reflecting international events dangerous to humankind, the clock hands have been set nineteen times, since its initial start at seven minutes to midnight in 1947. |
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[[File:Doomsday Clock graph.svg|thumb|600px|left|Doomsday Clock graph. The lower the graph becomes, the higher the probability of catastrophe is deemed to be.]] |
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{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;clear:left; " |
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! Year !! Mins Left !! Time !! Change || Reason |
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|- |
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| [[1947]] || '''7''' || 11:53pm || — ||align="left"| The initial setting of the Doomsday Clock. |
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|- |
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| [[1949]] || '''3''' || 11:57pm ||style="color:red"| −4 ||align="left"| The [[Soviet atomic bomb project|Soviet Union tests]] its first [[atomic bomb]]. |
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|- |
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| [[1953]] || '''2''' || 11:58pm ||style="color:red"| −1 ||align="left"| The [[United States]] and the Soviet Union test thermonuclear devices within nine months of one another. (This is the clock's closest approach to midnight since its inception.) |
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|- |
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| [[1960]] || '''7''' || 11:53pm ||style="color:green"| +5 ||align="left"| In response to a perception of increased scientific cooperation and public understanding of the dangers of nuclear weapons. |
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|- |
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| [[1963]] || '''12''' || 11:48pm ||style="color:green"| +5 ||align="left"| The United States and Soviet Union sign the [[Partial Test Ban Treaty]], limiting atmospheric nuclear testing. |
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|- |
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| [[1968]] || '''7''' || 11:53pm ||style="color:red"| −5 ||align="left"| [[France]] and [[China]] acquire and test nuclear weapons (1960 ([[Gerboise Bleue]] nuclear test) and 1964 ([[596 (nuclear test)|596 nuclear test]]) respectively). |
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|- |
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| [[1969]] || '''10''' || 11:50pm ||style="color:green"| +3 ||align="left"| The U.S. Senate ratifies the [[Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty]]. |
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|- |
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| [[1972]] || '''12''' || 11:48pm ||style="color:green"| +2 ||align="left"| The United States and the Soviet Union sign the [[SALT I]] (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty) and the [[Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty]]. |
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|- |
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| [[1974]] || '''9''' || 11:51pm ||style="color:red"| −3 ||align="left"| [[India]] tests a nuclear device ([[Smiling Buddha]]), SALT II talks stall. |
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|- |
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| [[1980]] || '''7''' || 11:53pm ||style="color:red"| −2 ||align="left"| Further deadlock in US-USSR talks, increase in nationalist wars and terrorist actions. |
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| [[1981]] || '''4''' || 11:56pm ||style="color:red"| −3 ||align="left"| Arms race escalates, conflicts in [[Afghanistan]], [[South Africa]], and [[Poland]] add to world tension. |
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|- |
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| [[1984]] || '''3''' || 11:57pm ||style="color:red"| −1 ||align="left"| Further escalation of the arms race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. |
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|- |
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| [[1988]] || '''6''' || 11:54pm ||style="color:green"| +3 ||align="left"| The U.S. and the Soviet Union sign [[Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty|treaty to eliminate intermediate-range nuclear forces]], relations improve. |
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|- |
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| [[1990]] || '''10''' || 11:50pm ||style="color:green"| +4 ||align="left"| Fall of the [[Berlin Wall]], dissolution of [[Iron Curtain]] sealing off Eastern Europe, [[Cold War]] nearing an end. |
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|- |
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| [[1991]] || '''17''' || 11:43pm ||style="color:green"| +7 ||align="left"| United States and Soviet Union sign the [[Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty]]. (This is the clock's earliest setting since its inception.) |
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|- |
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| [[1995]] || '''14''' || 11:46pm ||style="color:red"| −3 ||align="left"| Global military spending continues at Cold War levels; concerns about post-Soviet nuclear proliferation of weapons and brainpower. |
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| [[1998]] || '''9''' || 11:51pm ||style="color:red"| −5 ||align="left"| Both [[India]] ([[Pokhran-II]]) and [[Pakistan]] ([[Chagai-I]]) test nuclear weapons in a [[tit-for-tat]] show of aggression; the United States and Russia run into difficulties in further reducing stockpiles. |
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|- |
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| [[2002]] || '''7''' || 11:53pm ||style="color:red"| −2 ||align="left"| Little progress on global nuclear disarmament; United States rejects a series of arms control treaties and announces its intentions to withdraw from the [[Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty]]; concerns about the possibility of a nuclear terrorist attack due to the amount of weapon-grade nuclear materials that are unsecured and unaccounted for worldwide. |
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|- |
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| [[2007]] || '''5''' || 11:55pm ||style="color:red"| −2 ||align="left"| [[North Korean missile tests|North Korea's test]] of a nuclear weapon<ref>{{cite web | title = The North Korean nuclear test | publisher = [http://thebulletin.org "Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists"] | date = 2009 | url = http://thebulletin.org/web-edition/special-topics/the-north-korean-nuclear-test | accessdate = 2009-08-04 }}</ref>, [[Nuclear program of Iran|Iran's nuclear ambitions]], a renewed U.S. emphasis on the military utility of nuclear weapons, the failure to adequately secure nuclear materials, and the continued presence of some 26,000 nuclear weapons in the United States and Russia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thebulletin.org/content/media-center/announcements/2007/01/17/doomsday-clock-moves-two-minutes-closer-to-midnight|title="Doomsday Clock" Moves Two Minutes Closer To Midnight|accessdate=2007-01-17|publisher=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists}}</ref> Some scientists, assessing the dangers posed to civilization, have added [[climate change]] to the prospect of nuclear annihilation as the greatest threats to humankind.<ref >{{cite web|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16670686/|title=Nukes, climate push 'Doomsday Clock' forward|accessdate=2008-10-28|publisher=MSNBC}}</ref> |
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| [[2010]] || '''6''' || 11:54pm ||style="color:green"| +1 ||align="left"| Worldwide cooperation to reduce nuclear arsenals and limit effect of climate change.<ref name="BAS, Timeline, 2010, +1 to 6" >{{cite web |
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|title=Timeline of the Doomsday Clock |
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|url=http://www.thebulletin.org/content/doomsday-clock/timeline |
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|publisher=[http://www.thebulletin.org/ Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists] |
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|ref=BAS, Timeline |
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}}</ref> |
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|- |
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|} |
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{{clear}} |
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==See also== |
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* [[Doomsday device]] |
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* [[Mutual assured destruction]] |
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* [[Risks to civilization, humans and planet Earth]] |
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* [[Svalbard Global Seed Vault]] |
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==References== |
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{{reflist|2}} |
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==External links== |
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{{Commons category}} |
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* [http://www.thebulletin.org Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists] |
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** [http://www.thebulletin.org/content/doomsday-clock/overview The Doomsday Clock] |
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** [http://www.thebulletin.org/content/doomsday-clock/timeline Timeline of the Doomsday Clock] |
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* [http://www.turnbacktheclock.org/ TurnBackTheClock.org] |
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{{Doomsday}} |
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[[Category:Nuclear warfare]] |
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[[Category:Alert measurement systems]] |
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[[Category:Political symbols]] |
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[[Category:Clocks]] |
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[[ar:ساعة القيامة]] |
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[[be:Гадзіннік суднага дня]] |
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[[be-x-old:Гадзіньнік Суднага Дня]] |
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[[ca:Rellotge Doomsday]] |
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[[de:Atomkriegsuhr]] |
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[[es:Reloj del Apocalipsis]] |
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[[eo:Apokalipsa horloĝo]] |
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[[fr:Horloge de la fin du monde]] |
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[[ko:최후의 날 시계]] |
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[[it:Orologio dell'apocalisse]] |
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[[he:שעון יום הדין]] |
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[[ml:അന്ത്യദിനഘടികാരം]] |
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[[nl:Doemdagklok]] |
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[[ja:世界終末時計]] |
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[[no:Dommedagsklokka]] |
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[[pl:Zegar Zagłady]] |
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[[pt:Relógio do Apocalipse]] |
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[[ru:Часы судного дня]] |
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[[sl:Ura sodnega dne]] |
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[[fi:Tuomiopäivän kello]] |
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[[sv:Domedagsklockan]] |
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[[tl:Orasan ng pagkagunaw]] |
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[[th:นาฬิกาวันสิ้นโลก]] |
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[[tr:Kıyamet Günü Saati]] |
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[[uk:Годинник Апокаліпсису]] |
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[[vi:Đồng hồ ngày tận thế]] |
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[[zh-yue:世界末日鐘]] |
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[[zh:末日之鐘]] |
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Revision as of 19:09, 13 May 2010
you all gonna DIE!