Scientists who operate the Doomsday Clock announced Thursday they’ve set the hand one minute further from midnight, indicating they believe the world has become slightly safer.
The changes means the clock, a symbolic measure of the threats facing humankind, moved to six minutes to midnight from five to midnight.—-
Say what? To borrow a phrase from an old book, with all the wars (Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.) and rumors of wars (Iran, Pakistan, etc.) swirling around, we would’ve thought a realistic appraisal would've set the clock closer to Armageddon.
But representatives from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists said the election of a new U.S. president has created a more cooperative atmosphere that’s led to negotiations on issues like nuclear arms reduction and dealing with global climate change.
At the risk of sounding like Eeyore — the gloomy, depressed donkey from Winnie the Pooh — I think the scientists are being too optimistic and seeing progress where none exists so far. The level of tension and number of hotspots in the world are higher than they’ve been for years.
Time will tell.
