By Bulletin Staff, January 23, 2017
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists will host a live international news conference at 10 a.m. EST/1500 GMT on January 26, 2017, to announce whether the minute hand of the historic “Doomsday Clock” will be adjusted. The decision is made by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists‘ Science and Security Board in consultation with the Board of Sponsors, which includes 15 Nobel Laureates.
Factors influencing the 2017 deliberations regarding any adjustment that may be made to the Doomsday Clock include: a rise in strident nationalism worldwide, President Donald Trump’s comments on nuclear arms and climate issues prior to his inauguration on January 20th, a darkening global security landscape that is colored by increasingly sophisticated technology, and a growing disregard for scientific expertise.
In January 2016, the Doomsday Clock’s minute hand did not change, remaining at three minutes before midnight, the closest it has been to midnight since the early days of above-ground hydrogen bomb testing. The Clock was changed in 2015 from five to three minutes to midnight.
Speakers for the Doomsday Clock announcement on January 26, 2017 will include:
• Lawrence Krauss, chair, Bulletin Board of Sponsors; director, Origins Project at Arizona State University; and Foundation Professor, School of Earth and Space Exploration and Physics Department, Arizona State University.
• Thomas Pickering, Bulletin Board of Sponsors, former US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (1997-2000) and US Ambassador to the United Nations, the Russian Federation, India, Israel, El Salvador, Nigeria, and Jordan. Ambassador Pickering is currently focused on nonproliferation, most recently the Iran nuclear agreement.
• David Titley, Bulletin Science and Security Board, professor of practice at the Pennsylvania State University Department of Meteorology, and founding director, Penn State’s Center for Solutions to Weather and Climate Risk. Dr. Titley is a nationally known expert in the field of climate, the Arctic, and national security, and a retired rear admiral. While serving as Oceanographer and Navigator of the Navy, Dr. Titley initiated and led the U.S.Navy’s Task Force on Climate Change.
• Rachel Bronson, executive director and publisher, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Please join us for this historic announcement; watch it live at thebulletin.org. You can also like/follow us on Facebook and watch the announcement via Facebook Live. And don’t forget to take the 2017 Clock poll. Let us know what time you think it is.
The 2017 Clock announcement was made possible by the generous support of the Ploughshares Fund.
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