The Doomsday Clock Ticks 2 Minutes Closer
We talk about the Iraq War, oil and energy independence, global warming in the light of American politics and legislation quite a bit. Here’s a reminder from the keepers of the Doomsday Clock that there are others who are concerned with these issues.
The keepers of the so-called Doomsday Clock, which counts down to Armageddon, today moved its hands closer to midnight for the first time in four years to reflect the growing threats to mankind from nuclear proliferation and climate change.
In a ceremony hosted by the British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, the minute hand was moved forwards by two minutes to stand at five minutes to midnight – the closest it has come to midnight since the Cold War arms race of the 1980s.
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The Times report continues:
The decision by the directors of the Bulletin of the the Atomic Scientists was made in consultation with the Bulletin’s Board of Sponsors, which includes 18 Nobel laureates.
The BAS said that the world faced its most critical choices since the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of the Second World War.
“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,” it said.
“North Korea’s recent test of a nuclear weapon, Iran’s nuclear ambitions, a renewed 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 failure to solve the problems posed by the most destructive technology on Earth.”
The BAS statement continues: “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 irremediable harm to the habitats upon which human societies depend for survival.”
Quite a change from the days in the 1990s when the minute hand stood at 17 and 14 minutes to midnight in a post-Cold War thaw.
Just another reminder of the importance of these topics.
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EarthSave advocates a vegetarian diet as the most effective strategy for reducing global warming.
Vegetarians in Europe used to be called “Pythagoreans” after the philosopher Pythagoras and his followers who abstained from meat in the 6th century BC. They followed a vegetarian diet for nutritional and ethical reasons. According to the Roman poet Ovid, Pythagoras said: “As long as Man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings he will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love.”
Red Community Resident, thanks for reminding us of that. Eliminating meat from our diets, and meeting our protein needs from vegetable sources instead, is certainly a good way to reduce our personal impact on the planet. For those who aren’t swayed by the philosophical argument, think of this: an amount of protein derived from animal flesh requires from 3 to 16 times the resources as the same amount of vegetable-based protein. Numbers vary depending on whose you believe, but veggie protein ALWAYS comes out better for the planet.
Personally, I rather like tofu. :-)
Here in Wisconsin, we have had the dryest winter that we may have ever had.
What gets me, is when people say things like, “It’s not global warming. These are weather changes and climate changes and they vary. It’s not all due to global warming.”
These people need to realize something. The reason we are all talking about how dry it is this winter…is because there is a PROBLEM. If this was just your usual “weather shift”, then why is it so severe and why is there so much speculation from those crazy old scientists? Oh that’s right, they don’t know anything, do they?
Global warming is contributing in a hard, fast way and this is not going away and less we actually step up and start DOING something about it.
Violet,
Thank you for your comments on this most important news story.
America needs to take the lead on dealing with the issues of nuclear proliferation and global warming. We need to be the source of the solution and not the instigator of the crisis.
Addressing these problems, turning back the hands of the doomsday clock, requires new leadership and new approaches from our government. So much would be different if Senator Kerry had prevailed in 2004. Our nation will be much better off if John Kerry chooses to run and is successful at reaching the White House.
Our current President has scoffed at the notion of global warming, surrounding himself instead with oil company lobbyists like Philip Cooney who as reported in the Seattle P.I., rewrote government reports to downplay the dangers of global warming, and when his misdeeds were exposed, he jumped ship from the Bush Administration into the friendly arms of Exxon-Mobil.
This President has failed to push for higher fuel mileage requirements in auto vehicles. This President has loosened air pollution laws, claiming to do so to ‘create new jobs’. Meanwhile, the Arctic ice is melting.
As one of his first acts as President, George W. Bush pulled the United States out of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, in itself, moving those clock hands a little closer to the final conflagration.
This President who ridiculed Senator Kerry about the “global test’ in the Presidential Debates, has moved the clock ahead towards doomsday by dropping President Clinton’s approach of bilateral talks with the North Koreans, instead insisting on a regional global test of all of the parties involved. Instead of agreeing to talk to North Korea at any time in any location, his macho approach has isolated the North Koreans and has resulted in no talks at all and the testing of nuclear weapons by the North Korean regime.
These are but a few examples of the mis-steps of this President and his Republican team that has advanced global warming, threatened world peace, and has moved the doomsday clock forward. Whether it be Mr. Cheney’s oil executive advisors, or nepotism in the extreme, our nation has fumbled the ball over and over again in dealing with these crises.
Senator Kerry, I apologize for repeatedly beseeching you to run and win for all of us in 2008. It really isn’t fair to put that burden on you once more. For you and your wonderful family. But so many issues threaten this nation. From environmental questions that you understand well from your early involvement in Earth Day in Massachusetts, to world peace and understanding, to conservation, and to bringing back just plain decency in America—these are all issues that you alone have the experience, wisdom, and leadership to address for all Americans.
Robert Freedland
John Kerry for President 2008
Global Warming does not scare me too much. It is the thoughts of man bringing Global Warming upon itself that scares me; and in our age, most scientist attribute it to harmful emissions, and suggest nuclear proliferation only furthers the damage.
Although nuclear explosions could present a profound impact on the climate of the regions they occur in, it’s my belief they are not as dangerous as the overall effect of harmful pollution trapping energy in. As the atmosphere is filled with dangerous chemicals (such as from automobiles, airplanes, space shuttles) given off through exhaust, more energy is trapped that is received from the Sun than is released.
I’m currently developing a theory on energy cohesion; its main goal is to describe gravity, but I feel that it could even describe global warming. The sea levels have risen over recorded time, most significantly during the last two centuries, starting just after the Industrial Revolution. What my theory holds is that, in normal circumstances, the Hydrogen from the sun tries to bond with other elements on other space objects, causing Hydrogen to bond, and “pull” the object it is already bonded to; at a point, however, too much Hydrogen bonding occurs, and the object releases its “grip.”
In relation to Earth, the most obvious source of an element Hydrogen can bond with is oxygen and Hydrogen, in water and the atmosphere, incredibly abundant on Earth. However, as the cycle of precipitation describes, water molecules rise and lower over time. Clouds are formed, and rain falls later on.
In a sense, it’s my understanding the Hydrogen in our water tries to bond with the Hydrogen coming from the Sun. At some point, the Hydrogen bonds are weakened by Oxygen near the Stratosphere, and form clouds to repeat the cycle. However, there is something happening in our own atmosphere.
Because of our emissions from factories, automobiles, airplanes and spacecraft, we are forming a barrier to prevent this Hydrogen from getting in enough to bond with the Hydrogen that is already here. Therefore, the Hydrogen that is on Earth bonds with more of the oxygen, and could give way to the rising sea levels. Inversely, the Hydrogen on Earth cannot escape; in that sense, the water levels don’t remain balanced as they were long before the Industrial Revolution, and the Hydrogen on Earth cannot bond with the Hydrogen coming from the Sun.
Population growth is another factor to global warming. As population of organisms that inhale oxygen, such as Humans, continue to rise, more oxygen will be consumed, and more carbon-dioxide will return to the planet. When we cut down trees, we remove the possibility of breaking down the carbon-dioxide into oxygen we Humans, and other life forms, depend on for survival.
Through this logic, it would result in an increasing buildup of Hydrogen and Carbon-Dioxide in the atmosphere. I wager to say we’re building a Sun right here at home.
However, we need remember, that cycles continue, and the galaxy is in balance. Nothing is lost, nothing is gained, and it’s always the same amount of matter.
It is possible, by theory, the melting of the polar ice caps would ultimately result in a cooling off of the planet; cleansing the atmosphere of immense amounts of Hydrogen and Carbon-Dioxide. Life on Earth will continue. Fortunately, for us Humans, even with the immense technology we harbor, it is quite possible for our species to survive through an Ice Age; perhaps even better this time through.
Because we document our history, we will learn from our mistakes, and many generations from now, they will remember that it was us Humans who caused an Ice Age. With such knowledge they will know how to prevent an Ice Age from developing again. Yet, if history holds true from the last Ice Age, it is possible that, regardless of our efforts, and Ice Age will return in cycles.
Perhaps the greatest fear I have over all these conflicting matters about nuclear war giving way to an Ice Age, is not the Ice Age itself. No, I fear the deaths of far too many lives to sacrifice for such means. We should allow the cycle to of life to continue, but also allow lives to continue.