Scientists prepare to move Doomsday Clock forward

The keepers of the "Doomsday Clock" plan to move its hands forward
on Wednesday, (1/17/07) 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, 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.

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