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The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) has set the Doomsday Clock to "two minutes to midnight" to reflect fears of a nuclear confrontation with North Korea, as well as the failure of world leaders to address climate change and other factors. The clock is now set as close to doomsday as it was in 1953:
The team of scientists singled out a series of nuclear tests by North Korea. They dramatically escalated tensions on the Korean peninsula and led to a war of words between North Korea and the US.
The BAS also referred to a new US nuclear strategy that was expected to call for more funding to expand the role of the country's nuclear arsenal. Rising tension between Russia and the West was also a contributing factor.
The "weakening of institutions" around the world in dealing with major global threats - including climate change - was another major concern, the scientists said. They also mentioned US President Donald Trump's "unpredictability", pointing to his often controversial tweets and statements.
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(Score: 2) by stormwyrm on Saturday January 27 2018, @04:20AM
The Cuban Missile Crisis is an instructive parallel. If Kennedy had invaded Cuba as he was being pressured to do by the Joint Chiefs, they would have been in for a nasty surprise, as subsequent information [armscontrol.org] that came to light after the collapse of the Soviet Union showed. The nukes were already in Cuba even before the quarantine line was established and if the US had bombed and invaded, they would have certainly been met by nuclear fire. Perhaps in the future after the DPRK is somehow no more, it will come out that their nuclear missile capability was nowhere near what it was thought to be, or it might come out that just as in Cuba, they had more effective weapons than estimated. Do you really want to find out the truth of the matter hard way, the way we very nearly did in 1962?
The other thing is, whether their nukes work or not, the DPRK will order its artillery batteries at the border to bombard Seoul, which would kill many millions of South Korean citizens. The blame for this happening is definitely going to fall on the asshat who tried to invade them.
Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate.