Doomsday Clock
5 Minutes to Midnight
Introduced by The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, founded in 1945 by scientists working on the Manhattan Project, the "Doomsday Clock" has become a universally recognized indicator of the world's vulnerability to nuclear weapons and other threats.
Due to new and increasing nuclear dangers, on Wednesday 17 January 2007 the hands of the Doomsday clock inched two minutes closer to midnight, to rest at 5 minutes to midnight.
This is the first change to the clock since February 2002. The hands of the clock have moved 17 times and until recently rested at 7 minutes to midnight, the same time it displayed when the clock made its debut in 1947.
The Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the clock’s hands due to growing concerns about 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 US and Russia
- escalating terrorism
- new pressure for expanded civilian nuclear power that would increase proliferation risks.
The changing hands of the Doomsday Clock are a wake up call.
Doctors and health professionals from the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) have heard the alarm, launching ICAN – the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear weapons, in April 2007.
Read more about the clock and how we can respond to the alarm through ICAN
View a short film about the Doomsday Clock
