The world is inching closer to nuclear Armageddon;

[/b]The world is inching closer to nuclear Armageddon; Doomsday Clock

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The world is inching closer to nuclear Armageddon, a
group of prominent scientists and security experts said.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has kept a Doomsday clock
since 1947 as a reminder of the dangers of nuclear proliferation.

The clock will be moved forward Wednesday at simultaneous events in
Washington and London whose speakers will include physicist Stephen
Hawking, the Chicago-based periodical said in a statement.

The Bulletin warned that the world had entered a "Second Nuclear Age
marked by grave threats."

It cited the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea; escalating terrorism; unsecured nuclear materials in Russia and elsewhere, the continuing "launch-ready" status of 2,000 of the 25,000 nuclear weapons held by the United States and Russia,
and "new pressure from climate change for expanded civilian nuclear power that could increase proliferation risks."

First set at seven minutes to midnight -- a phrase that has become
part of pop culture -- the clock has been moved 17 times in response
to global events.

The most recent shift was in 2002 when it moved two minutes forward
because the United States withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile
Treaty and terrorists were known to be seeking nuclear and
biological weapons.

It currently stands once again at seven minutes to midnight, the
closest to danger since the end of the Cold War.

Founded in 1945 by scientists who had helped develop the atomic bomb
and were deeply concerned about the use of nuclear weapons, the
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists counts 17 Nobel laureates among
its boards of directors and sponsors.

Here are the dates and reasons for previous changes:

- 2002: Seven minutes to midnight

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.

- 1998: Nine minutes to midnight

India and Pakistan "go public" with nuclear tests. The United States
and Russia cannot agree on further deep reductions in their nuclear
stockpiles.

- 1995: Fourteen minutes to midnight

Further arms reductions stall while global military spending
continues at Cold War levels. Risks of nuclear "leakage" from poorly
guarded former Soviet facilities increase.

- 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.

- 1990: Ten minutes to midnight

The Cold War ends as the Iron Curtain falls.

- 1988: Six minutes to midnight

The United States and the Soviet Union sign a treaty to eliminate
intermediate-range nuclear forces; superpower relations improve;
more nations actively oppose nuclear weapons.

- 1984: Three minutes to midnight

The arms race accelerates.

- 1981: Four minutes to midnight

Both superpowers develop more weapons for fighting a nuclear war.
Terrorist actions, repression of human rights, and conflicts
in Afghanistan, Poland and South Africa add to world tension.

- 1980: Seven minutes to midnight

The deadlock in US-Soviet arms talks continues; nationalistic wars
and terrorist actions increase; the gulf between rich and poor
nations grows wider.

- 1974: Nine minutes to midnight

SALT talks reach an impasse; India develops a nuclear weapon.

- 1972: Twelve minutes to midnight

The United States and the Soviet Union sign the first Strategic Arms
Limitation Treaty and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

- 1969: Ten minutes to midnight

The US Senate ratifies the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

- 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.

- 1963: Twelve minutes to midnight

The US and Soviet signing of the Partial Test Ban Treaty "provides
the first tangible confirmation of what has been the Bulletin's
conviction in recent years -- that a new cohesive force has entered
the interplay of forces shaping the fate of mankind."

- 1960: Seven minutes to midnight

Growing public understanding that nuclear weapons made war between
the major powers irrational amid greater international scientific
cooperation and efforts to aid poor nations.

- 1953: Two minutes to midnight

The United States and the Soviet Union test thermonuclear devices
within nine months of one another.

- 1949: Three minutes to midnight

The Soviet Union explodes its first atomic bomb.

- 1947: Seven minutes to midnight

The clock first appears on the Bulletin cover as a symbol of nuclear danger.
_________________
Psalm22:10-11 I was cast upon You from birth. From My mothers womb You have been My God.

Scientists Prepare to Move Doomsday Clock Forward

The keepers of the "Doomsday Clock" plan to move its hands forward next Wednesday to reflect what they call worsening nuclear and climate threats to the world.

The symbolic clock, maintained by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, currently is set at seven minutes to midnight, with midnight marking global catastrophe.

The group did not say in which direction the hands would move. But in a news release previewing an event next Wednesday, they said the change was based on "worsening nuclear, climate threats" to the world.

"The major new step reflects growing concerns about a 'Second Nuclear Age' marked by grave threats, including: nuclear ambitions in Iran and North Korea, unsecured nuclear materials in Russia and elsewhere, the continuing 'launch-ready' status of 2,000 of the 25,000 nuclear weapons held by the U.S. and Russia, escalating terrorism, and new pressure from climate change for expanded civilian nuclear power that could increase proliferation risks," the release reads.

The clock was last pushed forward by two minutes to seven minutes to midnight in 2002 amid concerns about the proliferation of nuclear, biological and other weapons and the threat of terrorism.

When it was created by the magazine's staff in 1947, it was initially set at seven minutes to midnight and has moved 17 times since then.

It was as close as two minutes to midnight in 1953 following U.S. and Soviet hydrogen bomb tests, and as far away as 17 minutes to midnight in 1991 after the superpowers reached agreement on a nuclear arms reductions.
_________________
Psalm22:10-11 I was cast upon You from birth. From My mothers womb You have been My God.