AlexGTAGamer Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 The world tiptoed closer to the apocalypse on Tuesday as scientists moved the "Doomsday Clock" one minute closer to the zero hour. The symbolic clock now stands at five minutes to midnight, the scientists said, because of a collective failure to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, act on climate change, or find safe and sustainable sources of energy – as exemplified by the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The rare bright points the scientists noted were the Arab spring and movement in Russia for greater democracy. The clock, maintained by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, has been gauging our proximity to global disaster since 1947, using the potent image of a clock counting down the minutes to destruction. Until Tuesday afternoon, the clock had been set at six minutes to midnight. "It is five minutes to midnight," the scientists said. "Two years ago it appeared that world leaders might address the truly global threats we face. In many cases, that trend has not continued or been reversed." The Bulletin was founded by the scientists who helped build America's atomic bomb, and the primary focus of their concerns remains the danger of a nuclear conflagration. But a number of the scientists who took part in the deliberations said they were also dismayed by a growing trend to disregard science. "A cross-cutting issue through the entire discussion is the worrisome trend to reject or diminish the significance of what science says is the characteristic of a problem," said Robert Socolow of Princeton's Environmental Institute. "There is a general judgment among us that we need the political leadership to affirm the primacy of science." The scientists also noted how Republicans seeking the GOP nomination were trying to outdo each other in denying climate science. Their greatest disappointment, however, was the failure of international leaders to rid the world of nuclear weapons, exemplified by what they called "ambiguity about Iran's nuclear power program." Even when Russia and America ratified a new nuclear treaty in 2010, there were still nearly 20,000 nuclear weapons in the world. They warned that the Fukushima meltdown once more exposed the dangers of nuclear power – not just because of technology but because of management failures. After Fukushima, governments also need to think far more carefully about siting nuclear power plants. The stricken plant was too close to the coast and in a seismically active region. "A major question needs to be addressed: "How can complex systems like nuclear power stations be made less susceptible to accidents and errors in judgment," the scientists said in their statement. On climate change, the scientists warned the global community may be reaching a point of no-return unless there is a push to begin building alternatives to carbon-heavy technologies within the next five years. The Fukushima disaster, the painfully slow pace of the UN's international climate negotiations, and the growing hostility to science punctured the optimism of earlier pronouncements from the Bulletin scientists. In 2010, the scientists set the clock back from five minutes to six minutes to midnight, amid hopes that the international community was prepared to act on nuclear weapons and climate change. "We all had a sense when we moved the clock in 2010 that we might have a breakthrough," said Kennette Benedict, executive director of the bulletin. "Today there was a real sense that we really need new thinking and we don't have new thinking." Twenty years ago, with the break-up of the Soviet Union bringing the end of the cold war, the scientists moved the clock back farther than ever to 17 minutes to midnight. But the scientists have also set the clock as close as two minutes to midnight in 1953, after America tested its first hydrogen device. Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/1...ser-to-midnight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oddsock Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Aw boo. So what, am I supposed to be scared or something? Because I'm not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vertical limit Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 The world can't end in December because a lot of girls will be pregnant by the September after it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sivispacem Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 I've not got that much respect for the scientist's judgement on this issue. The clock remained at 4 minutes to midnight during the Able Archer 83 crisis, arguably the closest (and at the very least the second closest) that the world has ever come to nuclear annihilation. So forgive me if I don't exactly trust their judgement on this one. Besides, we're only at the same risk level now, according to the clock, as in 2007. AMD Ryzen 5900X (4.65GHz All-Core PBO2) | Gigabye X570S Pro | 32GB G-Skill Trident Z RGB 3600MHz CL16 EK-Quantum Reflection D5 | XSPC D5 PWM | TechN/Heatkiller Blocks | HardwareLabs GTS & GTX 360 Radiators Corsair AX750 | Lian Li PC-O11 Dynamic XL | EVGA GeForce RTX2080 XC @2055MHz | Sabrant Rocket Plus 1TB Sabrant Rocket 2TB | Samsung 970 Evo 1TB | 2x ASUS ROG Swift PG279Q | Q Acoustics 2010i | Sabaj A4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllnessGTA Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 OOOOOOO! IM SOOOO SCAERED! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vertical limit Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 If you are going to type in CAPS LOCK at least spell the words correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bread Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Socolow in that pic doesn't look very serious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 God damn, i am sick to death of these bloody end of the world conspiracies, if the world is gonna end it's gonna f*cking end chances are the night before it does will be the best night of our lives, everybody will be wanting to get drunk, stoned, f*cked etc the entire world will say bollocks to etiquette and i for one can't wait for this night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lil weasel Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 The trouble with scientists is that they decide what result they need (especiallly to get funding) and then make sure that the tests/experiments give them the correct answer... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhoda Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 I've got 25 to 6, is my watch wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icarus Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 I've got 25 to 6, is my watch wrong? "Not only are the trains now running on time, they're running on metric time. Remember this time people: 80 past 2 on April 47. It's the dawn of a new enlightenment." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhoda Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 I've got 25 to 6, is my watch wrong? "Not only are the trains now running on time, they're running on metric time. Remember this time people: 80 past 2 on April 47. It's the dawn of a new enlightenment." This alters so much. FOUR MINUTES TO SIXTY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
locolow2011 Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 When we get to 2 minutes im gonna play this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikoGTA4 Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 So what? That clock was at 23:58 in 1953 because of the soviets with their nuclear weapons back at the time. That clock always change, going back and forth, it is just a symbolic clock that is moved because of the world tension. The term Doomsday Clock is a bit stupid in my opinion. They should change that, they are scientists, they wanna scare people or what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeeebuuus Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 They will probably blame it on Dr. Manhattan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DP Man Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 They will probably blame it on Dr. Manhattan. In all seriousness I had no idea they actually had a Doomsday Clock in real life, seems kinda stupid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HydraulicWaRiOr Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 How can the world end in 2012 when I have a yogurt that expires in 2013? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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