The hands of the Doomsday clock, the movement of which reflects the level of danger of nuclear war and the threats associated with the climate, remained in place after the analysis of new risks. This was announced during a press conference by the authors of the project, Time reports.
At present, the clock, as before, shows three minutes to midnight. On January 22, 2015, the hands of the Doomsday clock were moved forward two minutes.
A report published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists exactly one year after the last movement of the arrows cited the agreement with Iran over its nuclear program, as well as the agreement of 200 countries in Paris to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, as positive factors.
At the same time, it was pointed out that tensions between Russia and the United States had grown "to a level reminiscent of the worst periods of the Cold War."
"The conflict in Ukraine and Syria continues, accompanied by dangerous bragging and balancing on the brink of war with Turkey, a NATO member, which shot down a Russian military aircraft participating in the operation in Syria," the report said. In addition, it was noted that the North Atlantic Alliance and Russia will redeploy troops and conduct large-scale exercises.
The authors also recalled the statement made by Dmitry Kiselev, director of the Rossiya Segodnya state news agency, who said on the Vesti Nedeli television program that Russian nuclear forces are capable of turning the United States into "radioactive ash."
"Washington and Moscow continue to adhere to most of the existing nuclear arms control agreements, but the United States, Russia and other nuclear-weapon countries are participating in programs to modernize their nuclear arsenals," the report says.
The authors stated the unfavorable prospects for nuclear arms control outside the United States and Russia. "China, Pakistan, India and North Korea are building up their nuclear arsenals, albeit at different rates," the report says.
Promotional video:
Another alarming factor was the conflict over free passage in the South China Sea and China's claims to a number of islands in this region.
Separately, the DPRK's statement on the testing of a hydrogen bomb is mentioned. “For now, experts assess that this was probably not a two-stage thermonuclear weapon, but there is no doubt that North Korea will continue to develop its nuclear arsenal without restrictions,” the authors note.
In 1947, the hands were set at seven minutes to midnight. In 1952, when the USSR and the USA tested thermonuclear bombs, the arrows moved to the most dangerous position - 23:58. After the foreign policy crises of the 1960s, the signing of the SALT I Treaty and the limitation of missile defense in 1972 postponed Doomsday by 10 minutes. The arms race in the mid-1980s and US President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative raised the threat level again (23:57) - just like in 2015.
The position of the shooters farthest from midnight (less than 17 minutes) was established in 1991, when a strategic arms reduction treaty was signed between the USSR and the United States. Since the mid-2000s, the arrows moved forward mainly due to the declared danger of climate change, but in 2010-2014 they remained stable (23:55) due to the combined influence of positive and negative factors.