NUCLEAR annihilation came a little nearer last week as the Bulletin of the Atomic 杏吧原创s moved its doomsday clock closer to midnight. Meeting last week in Chicago, the Bulletin鈥檚 board of directors voted to move the clock鈥檚 hands three minutes forward, to 14 minutes to midnight. In 1991 the hands were put back to 17 minutes to midnight 鈥� the earliest time since the clock came into being in 1947 鈥� reflecting optimism over nuclear arms reduction and the fall of the Soviet Union.
Much of that optimism has since evaporated. 鈥淲hen the board moved the clock in 1991 they were overreacting to what they felt were very positive events,鈥� says Linda Rothstein, managing editor of the Bulletin.
For the first time, the board polled its subscribers and held a public debate over how to reset the clock this year. Opinions ranged from 10 o鈥檆lock to just one second before midnight. Some suggested that the clock is a Cold-War anachronism and should be abolished. In the end, the board decided that nuclear midnight is drawing closer.
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The arms trade is booming, disarmament is slowing, and the risk of nuclear terrorism is rising, says Leonard Rieser, board chairman of the Bulletin. 鈥淥n balance, the world is still a very dangerous place, and trends are in the wrong direction.鈥�