核子威脅擴大？本月17日，象徵核子威脅降臨的末日時鐘（Doomsday Clock ）的分針再向午夜趨近，這是自2002年2月末日時鐘首度「調鐘」。末日時鐘已成為國際間認定世界受到核武及其他威脅的指標，而近期引發此指標改變的原因，便是伊朗、北韓的核子事件，以及恐怖攻擊的威脅再起。
末日時鐘指針此次移動由《原子科學家公報》期刊董事會12日進行宣佈。公報董事會所稱的「第二核子時代」帶有嚴重威脅意味，而此舉反應出逐漸高升的擔憂，包括在伊朗北韓的核武發展野心，俄羅斯及其他地方不安全的核子物料，以及在美國及俄羅斯2萬5千個核子武器中2千個準備發射的飛彈。董事會亦指出，「逐步升高的恐怖主義，以及因氣候變遷的新壓力帶來的民用核能擴張，亦致使危機擴大。」
末日時鐘是1947年起在芝加哥大學校園公報總部立起的一個象徵性「鐘面」。它以人類生存在一個「趨近午夜」的時刻作為類比，而午夜便意指核子戰爭毀滅世界之時。
時鐘分針挪動的決定是由董事會向18位諾貝爾獎得主組成的倡議委員會諮詢而做出的。公報的工作人員將於1月17日移動時鐘刻度。
《原子科學家公報》是在1945年由芝加哥大學中參與曼哈頓計劃（Manhattan Project）及深切關心核武核戰發展的科學家所發起成立的。期刊每年出版六期。在1947年6月，公報利用簡單的設計，以時鐘來傳達核子武器的危險性。自從介紹了時鐘的意象後，每一期學報的封面上，這個時鐘都會出現在上頭。這份非科技性的期刊囊括了全球安全及公共政策議題，主要與核能危險及可全面摧毀生命安全的武器相關。
末日時鐘反應了諸多國際重大事件發生的重要時刻，1947年來開始設立起已經挪動過17次，當時指針是在設在11點53分，接近午夜的時刻。
The minute hand of the Doomsday Clock will be moved closer to midnight on January 17, the first such change to the clock since February 2002. The Doomsday Clock has become a universally recognized indicator of the world's vulnerability to nuclear weapons and other threats.
The move was announced today by the Board of Directors of the magazine "The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists." It reflects growing concerns about what the board calls a "Second Nuclear Age" marked by grave threats, including nuclear ambitions in Iran and North Korea, unsecured nuclear materials in Russia and elsewhere, and the continuing "launch-ready" status of 2,000 of the 25,000 nuclear weapons held by the U.S. and Russia. The board also cited "escalating terrorism, and new pressure from climate change for expanded civilian nuclear power that could increase proliferation risks."
The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic clockface that the Bulletin has maintained since 1947 at its headquarters on the campus of the University of Chicago. 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 decision to move the minute hand is made by the Bulletin's Board of Directors in consultation with its Board of Sponsors, which includes 18 Nobel Laureates. Officials from the Bulletin will move the minute hand on January 17.
The "Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists" was founded in 1945 by University of Chicago scientists who had worked on the Manhattan Project and were deeply concerned about the use of nuclear weapons and nuclear war. The magazine is published six times per year.
In June 1947 the Bulletin introduced its clock to convey the perils posed by nuclear weapons through a simple design. The Doomsday Clock has appeared somewhere on the cover of each issue of the Bulletin since its introduction. The nontechnical magazine covers global security and public policy issues related to the dangers posed by nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction. The clock's minute hand has been moved 17 times in response to international events since its initial start at seven minutes to midnight in 1947.
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