Well, This Isn't Good News

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the hands of its Doomsday Clock a full 2 minutes closer to midnight today (midnight is bad). The clock was created in 1947 and has since served to symbolize how close the world is to complete destruction. The hands of the clock haven't moved since 2002. The Bulletin had this to say about its decision to move the hands a few minutes closer to doom:

"We stand at the brink of a second nuclear age. Not since the first atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has the world faced such perilous choices. North Korea’s recent test of a nuclear weapon, 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 are symptomatic of a larger failure to solve the problems posed by the most destructive technology on Earth.

As in past deliberations, we have examined other human-made threats to civilization. We have concluded that the dangers posed by climate change are nearly as dire as those posed by nuclear weapons. The effects may be less dramatic in the short term than the destruction that could be wrought by nuclear explosions, but over the next three to four decades climate change could cause drastic harm to the habitats upon which human societies depend for survival.

This deteriorating state of global affairs leads the Board of Directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists--in consultation with a Board of Sponsors that includes 18 Nobel laureates--to move the minute hand of the “Doomsday Clock” from seven to five minutes to midnight."

This all sounds pretty bad. Good thing I don't believe in "science". If I did, I would be crapping my pants right now. P.S. Nobel Prizes are completely overrated.

*Photo of Doomsday Clock courtesy of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.