The
Doomsday Clock
We bring you this so you may be better
informed of the world around you
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has marked nuclear danger since
1947, when its famous clock first appeared on the cover. Since then, the
clock has moved forward and back, reflecting international tensions and
the developments of the nuclear age.
1947: Seven minutes to midnight
The clock first appears on the Bulletin cover as a symbol of nuclear
danger.
1949:
Three minutes to midnight
The Soviet Union explodes its first atomic bomb.
1953:
Two minutes to midnight
The United States successfully tests a hydrogen bomb in late 1952--and the
Soviet Union quickly follows suit.
1963:
Twelve minutes to midnight
The United States and Soviet Union sign the Partial Test Ban Treaty,
"the first tangible confirmation...that a new cohesive force has
entered the interplay of forces shaping the fate of mankind."
1968:
Seven minutes to midnight
France and China acquire nuclear weapons; wars rage in the Middle East,
the Indian subcontinent, and Vietnam; world military spending increases
while development funds shrink.
1969:
Ten minutes to midnight
The U.S. Senate ratifies the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
1972:
Twelve minutes to midnight
The United States and the Soviet Union sign the first Strategic Arms
Limitation Treaty (SALT I) and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty; progress
toward SALT II is anticipated.
1974:
Nine minutes to midnight
SALT talks reach an impasse; India develops a nuclear weapon. "We
find policymakers on both sides increasingly ensnared, frustrated, and
neutralized by domestic forces having a vested interest in the amassing of
strategic forces."
1980:
Seven minutes to midnight
The deadlock in U.S.-Soviet arms talks continues; nationalistic wars and
terrorist actions increase; the rift between rich and poor nations grows
wider.
1981:
Four minutes to midnight
Both superpowers develop more weapons for fighting a nuclear war.
Terrorist actions, repression of human rights, conflicts in Afghanistan,
Poland, South Africa add to world tension.
1984:
Three minutes to midnight
The arms race accelerates. "The blunt simplicities of force threaten
to displace any other form of discourse between the superpowers."
1988:
Six minutes to midnight
The United States and the Soviet Union sign a treaty to eliminate
intermediate-range nuclear forces (INF); superpower relations improve;
more nations actively oppose nuclear weapons.
1990:
Ten minutes to midnight
(In October 1989, the clock is redesigned to expand the definition of
world security.) Democratic movements in Eastern Europe shatter the myth
of monolithic communism; the Cold War ends.
1991:
Seventeen minutes to midnight
The United States and the Soviet Union sign the long-stalled Strategic
Arms Reduction Treaty (START) and announce further unilateral cuts in
tactical and strategic nuclear weapons.
1995:
Fourteen minutes to midnight
Both the United States and Russia still have not implemented START II, nor
have they ratified the chemical and biological weapons conventions;
worldwide arms trade continues to boom; more than a thousand tons of
weapons-grade uranium and plutonium is stockpiled, much of it under
inadequate security. "In the past four years, it has become clear
that opportunities have been missed, open doors closed."
1998:
Nine
minutes to midnight
In May, India and Pakistan each test a series of nuclear devices, adding
two more states to the list of declared nuclear powers. But the clock move
is also made to dramatize the failure of world diplomacy in the nuclear
sphere; the increased danger that the nonproliferation regime might
ultimately collapse; and the fact that deep reductions in the numbers of
nuclear weapons, which seemed possible at the start of the decade, have
not been realized.
2002: Seven minutes
to midnight
Little progress is made on global nuclear disarmament. The United States
rejects a series of arms control treaties and announces it will withdraw
from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Terrorists seek to acquire and
use nuclear and biological weapons.
2007: Five
minutes to midnight
The world stands at the brink of a second
nuclear age. The United States and Russia remain ready to stage a nuclear
attack within minutes, North Korea conducts a nuclear test, and many in the
international community worry that Iran plans to acquire the Bomb. Climate
change also presents a dire challenge to humanity. Damage to ecosystems is
already taking place; flooding, destructive storms, increased drought, and
polar ice melt are causing loss of life and property.
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