Doomsday Clock moved back one minute

The Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists have declared that their "Doomsday Clock" is now set at 6 minutes to midnight, recognising international efforts to reduce the two threats of nuclear weapons and climate change.

In moving their clock backwards by one minute on 14 January 2010, the Board stated: "We are poised to bend the arc of history toward a world free of nuclear weapons.

"For the first time since atomic bombs were dropped in 1945, leaders of nuclear weapons states are cooperating to vastly reduce their arsenals and secure all nuclear bomb-making material. And for the first time ever, industrialized and developing countries alike are pledging to limit climate-changing gas emissions that could render our planet nearly uninhabitable.

"These unprecedented steps are signs of a growing political will to tackle the two gravest threats to civilization--the terror of nuclear weapons and runaway climate change. This hopeful state of world affairs leads the boards of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists--which include 19 Nobel laureates--to move the minute hand of the Doomsday Clock back from five to six minutes to midnight.

"By shifting the hand back from midnight by only one additional minute, we emphasize how much needs to be accomplished, while at the same time recognizing signs of collaboration among the United States, Russia, the European Union, India, China, Brazil, and others on nuclear security and on climate stabilization."

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