「終末時計」残り１００秒　昨年と同じ

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】米誌「ブレティン・オブ・ジ・アトミック・サイエンティスツ」は27日、人類による地球破壊までの残り時間を比喩的に示す「終末時計」は残り100秒と発表した。新型コロナウイルスのパンデミック（世界的な大流行）、核戦争、気候変動の脅威を受け、残り時間は昨年と同じとなった。（写真は残り1分40秒を示す「終末時計」。資料写真）
　同誌のレイチェル・ブロンソン社長兼最高経営責任者（ＣＥＯ）は、「死者を出し、恐怖をあおる新型コロナウイルスのパンデミックが歴史的な警鐘となり、各国政府や国際機関には核兵器と気候変動という文明を滅亡させる真の脅威に対処する準備ができていないことが鮮明になった」と表明した。
　終末時計は昨年１月、残り１００秒となり、１９４７年に設置されて以来最短となっていた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/01/28-13:15）

The Doomsday Clock illustrating the perils facing the planet and mankind will remain at 100 seconds to midnight this year amid the threats of the coronavirus pandemic, nuclear war and climate change.
The hands of the Doomsday Clock remain at 100 seconds to midnight, as close to midnight as ever, Rachel Bronson, president of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, said in a statement.
The lethal and fear-inspiring Covid-19 pandemic serves as a historic 'wake-up call,' a vivid illustration that national governments and international organizations are unprepared to manage the truly civilization-ending threats of nuclear weapons and climate change, Bronson said.
The decision on setting the hands of the clock is taken by board members from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which was founded in 1945 by Albert Einstein and University of Chicago scientists who helped develop the world's first atomic weapons.
The board members include 13 Nobel laureates.
Created in 1947, the clock moved to 100 seconds to midnight in January of last year -- the closest to midnight it has been in its history.
It was originally set at seven minutes to midnight. The furthest it has ever been from midnight is 17 minutes, following the end of the Cold War in 1991.
Former California governor Jerry Brown, executive chair of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, said it's time to eliminate nuclear weapons, not build more of them.
Likewise, with climate change: the US, China and other big countries must get serious about cutting lethal carbon emissions -? now, Brown said.
Susan Solomon, professor of environmental studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), said the pandemic-related economic slowdown temporarily reduced the carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming.
But over the coming decade fossil fuel use needs to decline precipitously if the worst effects of climate change are to be avoided, Solomon said.
Former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said the Covid-19 pandemic is a terrible warning against complacency in the face of global threats to all human life.
It is only through collective action and responsible leadership that we can secure a peaceful and habitable planet for future generations, she said.
The Bulletin members recommended that the United States and Russia extend the New START nuclear treaty and that the US return to the nuclear deal with Iran.
They also urged governments, technology giants and media organizations to cooperate on finding practical and ethical ways to combat internet-enabled misinformation and disinformation.