With no progress in suppressing the risks of nuclear war and climate change dangers in sight, the University of Chicago-based Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on January, 24 has set the Doomsday Clock at “two minutes to midnight” for 2019.

According to the 2019 Doomsday Clock statements, the threats ensued by both nuclear weapons and climate change were aggravated as use of information warfare increased this past year. This lack of considerateness not only undermines democracy around the world, but also amplify risks from other threats and put the future of civilization in grave danger. The statement also describes the existing state of affairs as “the new abnormal.”

The Doomsday Clock edged forward by 30 seconds in January 2017 after Donald Trump’s remark on proliferation and the prospect of actually using nuclear weapons and his defiance against U.S. commitments to climate change. In 2018, the Clock moved forward again to two minutes before midnight.

“There is nothing normal about the complex and frightening reality we are describing today,” explained Rachel Bronson, president and CEO of the Bulletin. “Though unchanged from 2018, this setting should be taken not as a sign of stability but as a stark warning to leaders and citizens around the world.”

In the past, the Doomsday Clock could move away from catastrophe only because wise leaders acted “under pressure from informed and engaged citizens around the world,” the 2019 statement added.

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