LLAW’s “ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” #511 (01/15/2024)
”End All Nuclear Insanity Before Our Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity"
LLAW’s THOUGHTS & COMMENTS :
The following article is important for several reasons, not the least of which is the coming Doomsday Clock announcement by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on January 23rd when a pittance of 30 seconds will be increased to the Doomsday Clock setting the time at 2 minutes to midnight.
The logic, if you are not a subscriber to “The Bulletin”, will be explained at that time. One has to wonder if that has any significant reasoning at all. Considering that the original mythological 1949 clock was set at 3 minutes to midnight when Russia tested its initial atomic bomb, but more fearfully reduced to 2 minutes in 1953, which means that the 90 seconds in 2023 will be the closet to midnight ever set with 2024 tying 1953 for 2nd. It you are wondering, the longest time setting was 12 minutes in 1963.
The most important thing that I took away from this article tonight, is this cogent statement, which I know and understand very well from personal experience: “The paths for acting individually toward a safer world are many and varied. But all of them require a degree of hope and doggedness.” And so it goes . . . ~llaw
Since it first appeared in 1947, the hands of the Doomsday Clock have moved as close as 90 seconds and as far as 17 minutes to midnight. (Illustration by Thomas Gaulkin)
Introduction: What you can do to turn back the hands of the Doomsday Clock
By Dan Drollette Jr, January 15, 2024
Every January in recent decades, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has set the hands of the Doomsday Clock—a graphic illustration of how close the planet is to the civilization-ending disaster symbolized by midnight.
When the hands of the Clock first moved toward midnight it was 1949, and the reason centered entirely on nuclear war. The Soviet Union had just tested its first atomic bomb, years ahead of when many US government observers had predicted. Nowadays, the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board considers not just nuclear weapons but a range of other existential risks—climate change most prominently, but also threats arising from a host of emerging disruptive technologies—when it decides how close the world is to catastrophe.
Each year, after the Clock is set, Bulletin staffers usually receive a flood of reader correspondence that asks some version of the same question: “But what can I do to turn back the hands of the Clock?”
Consequently, this issue of the Bulletin’s magazine—published just a few weeks before this year’s Doomsday Clock announcement—is devoted to providing at least some answers to that question. Its emphasis is on actions that citizens can take, individually and in concert, to help reduce major global threats. As much as possible, we tried to avoid merely symbolic gestures and focused on how citizens can best influence their leaders to deal responsibly with dangers that could be existential.
To provide a range of choices, we looked for people who have been working to effect positive changes, whether on the local, state, or national arena.
For example, at the age of 15, Sneha Revanur read about the use of biased AI-generated algorithms that threatened the justice process in her home state of California. She enlisted her peers—all in high school or just entering college—in contacting voters, creating informational content, partnering with community organizations, and running phone banks. Together, they helped defeat an electoral proposition that would have enshrined the use of such algorithms in the legal system across the state. Revanur subsequently founded an organization, Encode Justice, to carry on work related to limiting the negative effects of artificial intelligence, as she explains in “Interview with Sneha Revanur, ‘the Greta Thunberg of AI.’ ”
In “Bill McKibben explains what individuals can do to win the climate fight—together,” the longtime climate change activist gives his reading of today’s climate advocacy movements and how people of different ages and backgrounds might effectively fit themselves into them. He also gives his sharp and concise views about recent politics and the transformational power of the ballot box in the battle against climate change.
For a view of effective citizen action from inside the political system, we asked Los Angeles Congressman Ted Lieu about the best ways for voters to influence their representatives on big issues like nuclear weapons and climate change. In the resulting interview “California Congressman Ted Lieu on what you can do about existential threats,” we learned that, among many other ways to get your congressman’s attention, small groups of constituents who simply ask for a meeting with their member of Congress can be effective, even and perhaps especially on the issue of nuclear weapons. “Many members of Congress don’t run for Congress because of nuclear weapons,” Lieu said. “So it’s just an area where I think you can get members of Congress to engage and focus on and think about in a different way, because they may not have a very strongly held belief one way or the other.”
The paths for acting individually toward a safer world are many and varied. But all of them require a degree of hope and doggedness.
As former executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (and a key player in the 2015 Paris climate agreement) Christiana Figueres notes, the world has seen dramatic progress in solar and wind power technology, huge increases in the adoption of electric vehicles and heat pumps, and significant improvements in battery storage—positive developments that have often been overlooked amid a near-constant stream of bad climate news. “The stories of what human beings have achieved by applying stubborn optimism as an input in the face of seemingly impossible challenges never ceases to amaze me,” she writes in her essay, “Why a mindset of stubborn optimism about the climate crisis is needed, now more than ever.”
Indeed, those who believe that they can succeed are usually the ones who do. In Frida Berrigans’s “How my Gen Z students learned to start worrying and dismantle the Bomb,” an experienced activist from a long line of well-known and remarkably successful activists reflects on engaging with the current generation in regard to nuclear weapons—and the urgent need to do so. Hers is a story of connection across generations, and of hope that the hands of the Doomsday Clock can be moved away from midnight. Again. And then again and again. ~Dan Drollette Jr,
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:
There are 5 categories (plus a bonus category at the end for news about the Yellowstone caldera and others that also play an important role in humanity’s lives) as do ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 linked most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (Especially with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual appearing order:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear War
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War Threats
Yellowstone Caldera
(There are two Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in tonight’s Post.)
Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.
A current Digest of major nuclear media headlines with automated links is listed below by nuclear Category (per above). If a category heading does not appear, it means there was no news reported from this category today. There are two Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available at the end of this Post.
(A reminder, just in case: When linked, the access to the media story will be underlined. If there is no link to a media story of interest you can still copy and paste the headline and lead line into your browser to find the article you are seeking. Hopefully this will never happen.)
TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS (01/15/2024):
All Things Nuclear
NEWS
North Korea launches ballistic missile, thought capable of hitting distant US bases - WHQR
WHQR
Weekend All Things Considered. Next Up: 6:00 PM American Routes. 0:00. 0 ... In a key ruling party meeting in late December, Kim vowed to expand his ...
North Korea launches ballistic missile, thought capable of hitting distant US bases - KIOS
KIOS
All Things Considered. nextUp 5:30 PM Marketplace. zeroTimestamp ... In a key ruling party meeting in late December, Kim vowed to expand his nuclear ...
North Korea launches ballistic missile, thought capable of hitting distant US bases | NPR Illinois
NPR Illinois
All Things Considered. nextUp 6:30 PM Marketplace. zeroTimestamp ... In a key ruling party meeting in late December, Kim vowed to expand his nuclear ...
Nuclear Power
NEWS
Sizewell C project to enter construction phase - World Nuclear News
World Nuclear News
The Sizewell C nuclear power plant project has been awarded a Development Consent Order, paving the way for formal construction work to begin at ...
Investing to keep nuclear power a key UK energy source - Politics Home
Politics Home
Last week also saw the Government publish its nuclear “roadmap”, re-committing to a major expansion of nuclear power in the UK (up to 24GW from the ...
Sizewell C nuclear plant construction a step closer - BBC
BBC
EDF wants to build a two-reactor nuclear power station that will generate 3.2 gigawatts (GW) of electricity - enough to provide 7% of the UK's needs.
Nuclear War
NEWS
Russia Ukraine war live: Moscow launches hypersonic missile attack as UK pledges to send ...
The Independent
Missiles from Iran and North Korea boost Russia's onslaught on Ukraine; Russia unleashes another barrage of missiles and drones against Ukraine.
Israel's nuclear arsenal: what we know -
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Last week's attack on Yemen by US, UK and other forces is a dangerous escalation of the war in the Middle East. The attack is intended to halt the ...
Kissinger's role in avoiding nuclear war, and the key part Australia played - ASPI Strategist
ASPI Strategist
... nuclear war with the USSR. We now forget just how dangerous the strategic nuclear arms race between the US and the Soviet Union was throughout the ...
Nuclear Power Emergencies
NEWS
Why Britain should go big on nuclear power - Spiked
Spiked
Zion Lights is the founder of pro-nuclear campaign group Emergency Reactor, an environmentalist and a former spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion.
Nuclear War Threats
NEWS
Introduction: What you can do to turn back the hands of the Doomsday Clock
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
... nuclear war. The Soviet Union had just ... In the resulting interview “California Congressman Ted Lieu on what you can do about existential threats ...
Bellona's Vilnius office examines a turbulent, but successful, year past
Bellona.org
Nuclear issues, Nuclear Russia. Bellona's Vilnius office ... nuclear industry amid the war and looming threats to nuclear safety its activities present.
UK Bolsters Defences Amid Rising Global Threats - Mirage News
Mirage News
Existential threats were banished. And a new global feel good factor ... Today, Russia and China have been joined by new nuclear, and soon to be nuclear ...
Yellowstone Caldera
NEWS
Grammar Guy: Don't anger the underground supervolcano | Comment | circlevilleherald.com
Circleville Herald
There's a supervolcano under Yellowstone National Park called the Yellowstone Caldera that last erupted in a big way approximately 640,000 years ago.
CONTINUOUS VA ERUPTION TO FL070 OBS AT 15/0050Z to 7000 ft (2100 m) - Volcano Discovery
Volcano Discovery
... caldera, and Ijen in East Java. Glossary · Glossary. Volcanology ... List and interactive map of current and past earthquakes near Yellowstone volcano.