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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
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| A Princeton University professor sits alongside the Doomsday Clock during an announcement by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, DC, on January 10, 2012 |
The Doomsday Clock, a symbolic timepiece used as a barometer of global threats to humanity, has been moved one minute closer to midnight.
On Tuesday, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved the clock from six minutes to five minutes before midnight.
Midnight symbolizes a global disaster.
"Despite the promise of a new spirit of international cooperation, and reductions in tensions between the United States and Russia, the Science and Security Board believes that the path toward a world free of nuclear weapons is not at all clear, and leadership is failing," the group said in a statement explaining the move.
"Two years ago, it appeared that world leaders might address the truly global threats that we face. In many cases, that trend has not continued or been reversed,” the statement added.
The Doomsday Clock, maintained since 1947 by the board of directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists at the University of Chicago, has been changed 20 times so far.
The analogy originally represented the threat of global nuclear war, but since 2007 it has also reflected the global threat from climate change.
AS/HGL
