Agravamento do risco nuclear faz avançar Relógio do Apocalipse
WASHINGTON, 15 jan (AFP) - O Relógio do Apocalipse, barômetro do Boletim de Cientistas Atômicos, que simboliza a iminência de um armagedon nuclear, deverá avançar na quarta-feira, uma decisão que reflete o agravamento da ameaça nuclear, informou um grupo de eminentes cientistas em um comunicado.
O relógio marca atualmente sete minutos para a meia-noite, hora simbólica de uma catástrofe mundial.
Esta será a primeira alteração no relógio desde fevereiro de 2002, informou à AFP Kennette Benedict, diretora deste grupo científico, informando que esta decisão, "se apoiou em um agravamento da ameaça nuclear e daquelas vinculadas ao aquecimento climático".
Ela não informou em quantos minutos será adiantado o ponteiro do relógio, criado em 1947 por cientistas de Chicago, que participaram do projeto Manhattan para simbolizar os riscos que as armas nucleares significam para a humanidade.
O projeto Manhattan deu origem à bomba atômica, lançada pela primeira vez sobre Hiroshima, no Japão, em 6 de agosto de 1945.
"Este último movimento importante (do relógio) traduz as inquietações crescentes de uma 'segunda era atômica', devido às graves ameaças causadas pelas ambições nucleares do Irã e da Coréia do Norte, dos materiais nucleares não protegidos na Rússia e em outros lugares, bem como as 2.000 a 25.000 armas nucleares deslocadas todos os dias nos Estados Unidos e na Rússia", explicou o comunicado.
http://noticias.uol.com.br/ultnot/afp/2 ... u5295.jhtm
Doomsday Clock
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The Doomsday Clock, a symbol of mankind's risk of nuclear destruction, set at seven minutes to Midnight.
The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic clockface maintained since 1947 by the Board of Directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists at the University of Chicago in the third floor of 6042 S. Kimbark Ave. It uses the analogy of the human race being at a time that is a 'few minutes to midnight' where midnight represents destruction by nuclear war. The clock has appeared on the cover of each issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists since its introduction.
Time changes
The clock was started at seven minutes to midnight during the Cold War in 1947, and has subsequently been moved forwards or backwards at intervals, depending on the state of the world and the prospects for nuclear war. Its setting is relatively arbitrary, set by the Board of Directors at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in response to global affairs. The setting of the clock has not always been fast enough to cope with the speed of global events, either; one of the closest periods to nuclear war, the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, reached its head and resolution in a number of weeks, and the clock either could not be changed or was not changed to reflect any of this at the time. Nevertheless, the changing of the clock usually does provoke attention, which is presumably the goal of the Bulletin Directors.
The clock was last changed in 2002 back to seven minutes to midnight, after recent deterioration in international relations. Each time nuclear conflict comes closer, it is moved forward. Conversely, the minute hand moves back as world events improve. It has been moved 17 times in response to international events since its initial start at seven minutes to midnight in 1947:
Graph of the Doomsday clock's minutes to midnight.
Red indicates a negative change (towards nuclear war, where "minutes" = 0), blue indicates a positive change (towards world peace).
1949 - The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb. Clock changed to three minutes to midnight (four minutes closer to midnight).
1953 - The United States and the Soviet Union test thermonuclear devices within nine months of one another. Clock changed to two minutes to midnight (one minute closer, its closest approach to midnight to date).
1960 - In response to a perception of increased scientific cooperation and public understanding of the dangers of nuclear weapons, clock is changed to seven minutes to midnight (five minutes further from midnight).
1963 - The United States and Soviet Union sign the Partial Test Ban Treaty, limiting atmospheric nuclear testing. Clock changed to twelve minutes to midnight (another five minutes further).
1968 - France and China acquire and test nuclear weapons (1960 and 1964 respectively), wars rage on in the Middle East, Indian subcontinent, and Vietnam. Clock changed to seven minutes to midnight (five minutes closer to midnight).
1969 - The U.S. Senate ratifies the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Clock changed to ten minutes to midnight (three minutes further from midnight).
1972 - The United States and the Soviet Union sign the SALT I (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty) and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Clock changed to twelve minutes to midnight (two minutes further).
1974 - India tests a nuclear device (Smiling Buddha), SALT II talks stall. Clock changed to nine minutes to midnight (three minutes closer to midnight).
1980 - Further deadlock in US-USSR talks, increase in nationalist wars and terrorist actions. Clock changed to seven minutes to midnight (two minutes closer).
1981 - Arms race escalates, conflicts in Afghanistan, South Africa, and Poland
Cover of a 2002 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists with the famous Doomsday Clock set at seven minutes to midnight. The clock can be seen in the "o" of Atomic in the title.add to world tension. Clock changed to four minutes to midnight (three minutes closer).
1984 - Further escalation of the arms race under the U.S. policies of Ronald Reagan. Clock changed to three minutes to midnight (one more minute closer).
1988 - The U.S. and the Soviet Union sign treaty to eliminate intermediate-range nuclear forces, relations improve. Clock changed to six minutes to midnight (three minutes further from midnight).
1990 - Fall of the Berlin Wall, success of anti-communist movements in Eastern Europe, Cold War nearing an end. Clock changed to ten minutes to midnight (four minutes further).
1991 - United States and Soviet Union sign the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Clock changed to seventeen minutes to midnight (seven minutes further, its greatest distance from midnight so far).
1995 - Global military spending continues at Cold War levels; concerns about post-Soviet nuclear proliferation of weapons and brainpower. Clock changed to fourteen minutes to midnight (three minutes closer to midnight).
1998 - Both India and Pakistan test nuclear weapons in a tit-for-tat show of aggression; the United States and Russia run into difficulties in further reducing stockpiles. Clock changed to nine minutes to midnight (five minutes closer).
2002 - Little progress on global nuclear disarmament; United States rejects a series of arms control treaties and announces its intentions to withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty; terrorists seek to acquire nuclear weapons. Clock changed to seven minutes to midnight (two minutes closer).
On October 11, 2006, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists released a statement[1] in response to North Korea's recent nuclear test:
North Korea's recent underground nuclear test is part of a worrisome trend of increased nuclear proliferation. Before making a decision about moving the hands of the Clock, however, the Board of Directors is also watching to see how the international community responds to North Korea's actions.
The press release also outlined concerns with Russia, Pakistan, and Al Qaeda, and concluded by stating:
While we continue to follow closely the actions surrounding North Korea's first nuclear test, we are mindful as well of the larger context of nuclear proliferation and disarmament. All these considerations continue to inform the Board's decisions about the state of global security.
On January 12, 2007, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in a press release noted that the Doomsday clock was to be moved forward to highlight the "Most Perilous Period Since Hiroshima and Nagasaki."
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (BAS) will move the minute hand of the "Doomsday Clock" on January 17, 2007, to 5 minutes before midnight, the first such change to the Clock since February 2002. The major new step reflects growing concerns about a "Second Nuclear Age" marked by grave threats, including: nuclear ambitions in Iran and North Korea, unsecured nuclear materials in Russia and elsewhere, the continuing "launch-ready" status of 2,000 of the 25,000 nuclear weapons held by the U.S. and Russia, escalating terrorism, and new pressure from climate change for expanded civilian nuclear power that could increase proliferation risks. [2]
The official announcement will take place on January 17, 2007 at 14:30 hours GMT.[3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_clock
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