Doomsday Clock Update: Armageddon a Minute Further Away

Today, the folks at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists have shoved the hands of their iconic Doomsday Clock one minute further away from the midnight hour of Armageddon. The press release explains:

 "It is 6 minutes to midnight. 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…

A key to the new era of cooperation is a change in the U.S. government's orientation toward international affairs brought about in part by the election of Obama.  With a more pragmatic, problem-solving approach, not only has Obama  initiated new arms reduction talks with Russia, he has started negotiations with Iran to close its nuclear enrichment program, and directed the U.S. government to lead a global effort to secure loose fissile material in four years.  He also presided over the U.N. Security Council last September where he supported a fissile material cutoff treaty and encouraged all countries to live up to their disarmament and nonproliferation obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty …"

Yesterday, I, in my gloomster mode, predicted that the hands of fate would be moved closer toward doom. I evidently misunderestimated the Obama Effect on the course of future history.