By Bulletin Staff, January 25, 2016
“DOOMSDAY CLOCK” ANNOUNCEMENT SET FOR JANUARY 26TH IN D.C. AND STANFORD
New Speakers Added: CA Gov. Jerry Brown, Former Secretary of State Schultz & Former Defense Secretary Perry
National Press Club Event to be Linked to Stanford University Event
Recent Global Tensions and Climate Change Developments to be Weighed
WASHINGTON, D.C. & STANFORD, CA. – NEWS ADVISORY – The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists will host a live international news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. at 1:30 p.m. EST/10:30 a.m. PST/1830 GMT on January 26, 2016 to announce whether the minute hand of the historic “Doomsday Clock” will be adjusted. The National Press Club news event will feature a live, two-way link with a simultaneous news event at Stanford University featuring California Gov. Jerry Brown, former Secretary of State George Schultz, and former US Defense Secretary William Perry.
The decision about the time reflected on the Doomsday Clock is made by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Science and Security Board in conjunction with the Board of Sponsors, which includes 16 Nobel Laureates.
Tensions between the United States and Russia that remain at levels reminiscent of the Cold War, the danger posed by climate change, and nuclear proliferation concerns, including the recent North Korean nuclear test, are the main factors influencing the decision about any adjustment that may be made to the Doomsday Clock. In January 2015, the Doomsday Clock’s minute hand advanced two minutes, moving from five to three minutes before midnight, the closest it has been to catastrophe since the early days of above-ground hydrogen bomb testing.
News event speakers at the National Press Club event will be:
· Rachel Bronson, executive director and publisher, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists;
· Lawrence M. Krauss, chair, Bulletin Board of Sponsors, foundation professor, School of Earth and Space Exploration and Physics departments, and director, Origins Project, Arizona State University.
· Thomas R. Pickering, member, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Science and Security Board, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, the Russian Federation, India, Israel, El Salvador, Nigeria, and Jordan;
· Sharon Squassoni, member, Bulletin Science and Security Board, senior fellow and director, Proliferation Prevention Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, DC; and
· Sivan Kartha, member, Bulletin Science and Security Board, senior scientist and climate change expert, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), and co-leader of the SEI research theme “Reducing Climate Risk.”
Speakers at the Stanford University event will be:
· Jerry Brown, Governor of the State of California;
· George P. Shultz, Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford distinguished fellow, Hoover Institution, and former U.S. Secretary of State; and
· William J. Perry, senior fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute, and former U.S. Secretary of Defense.
TO PARTICIPATE IN PERSON AT THE NATIONAL PRESS CLUB: You can attend the Doomsday Clock news event on January 26, 2016, 1:30 p.m. EST/1830 GMT at theNational Press Club, 529 14th Street NW, Washington, D.C., in the Zenger Room. Attendance will be limited to credentialed members of the news media. For security reasons, all attendees must RSVP in advance by contacting: Patrick Mitchell, (703) 276-3266 and pmitchell@hastingsgroup.com; or Alex Frank, (703) 276-3264 and afrank@hastingsgroup.com.
TO PARTICIPATE IN PERSON AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY: You can attend the Doomsday Clock event at 10:30 a.m. on January 26, 2016, at Bechtel Conference Center at Encina Hall, Stanford University, 616 Serra Street, Stanford, CA.
CAN’T PARTICIPATE IN PERSON?: Starting at 1:30 p.m. EST/10:30 a.m. PST/1830 GMT, on January 26, 2016, journalists unable to attend the live news events will be able to view a live steaming webcast of the events at http://clock.thebulletin.org/2016. No questions will be taken on a live basis from reporters outside of the National Press Club or Stanford news event sites.
MEDIA CONTACTS: Patrick Mitchell, (703) 276-3266, or pmitchell@hastingsgroup.com; Alex Frank, (703) 276-3264 or afrank@hastingsgroup.com; and Ravi Patel, rspatel@standford.edu.
ABOUT THE BULLETIN OF THE ATOMIC SCIENTISTS
Founded in 1945 by University of Chicago scientists who had helped develop the first atomic weapons in the Manhattan Project, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists subsequently created the Doomsday Clock in 1947 using the imagery of apocalypse (midnight) and the contemporary idiom of nuclear explosion (countdown to zero), to convey threats to humanity and the planet.The decision to move the minute hand of the Doomsday Clock is made by the Bulletin's Science and Security Board in consultation with its Board of Sponsors, which includes 16 Nobel Laureates. The Clock has become a universally recognized indicator of the world's vulnerability to catastrophe from nuclear weapons, climate change, and emerging technologies.
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