YET ANOTHER DOOMSDAY ALERT

The cheery folks who run the “Doomsday Clock” have moved the hands of the clock forward two minutes and placed humanity at about five minutes to midnight (with midnight, of course, symbolizing the end of the world as we know it). The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) first came up with the fun idea in 1947, and since that time have moved the hands of the clock back and forth in response to world events. The last time the clock moved closer to doomsday was in 2002 in response to the events of 9/11. This time the BAS expressed concern over two potential sources of catastrophe: the increasing dangers from the spread of nuclear weapons and the potential of increased chaos due to climate change (including the increased risk of disaster due to the expansion of nuclear power as an energy source). The closest the clock has ever come to midnight was following hydrogen bomb tests by the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. in 1953, when the clock was set to two minutes to doomsday. (TheBulletin.org)