Scientists on Tuesday pushed the hands of the infamous "Doomsday Clock" forward one minute from last year, signalling their increasing pessimism about the efforts of world leaders to handle global threats. |
Scientists on Tuesday pushed the hands of the infamous "Doomsday Clock" forward one minute from last year, signalling their increasing pessimism about the efforts of world leaders to handle global threats. "It is now five minutes to midnight," the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) said in a sober assessment of current trends. "Two years ago, it appeared that world leaders might address the truly global threats that we face. In many cases, that trend has not continued or been reversed." In January 2010, the clock's minute hand was pushed back one minute from five to six minutes before midnight. Midnight symbolizes humanity's destruction. The clock setting, which has been a staple since 1947, represents the severity of the perceived threat to humanity from nuclear or biological weapons, climate change and other human-caused disasters. When it began this annual tradition, the BAS set the time at seven minutes to midnight. Following the first test of the hydrogen bomb, the doomsday clock ticked to two minutes before midnight in 1953. When the United States and Russia began reducing their nuclear arsenals in 1991, the Bulletin set the clock at 17 minutes to midnight. In explaining its latest move, the BAS bemoaned the ability of global leaders to move ahead on ridding the world of nuclear weapons. There are about 19,500 nuclear weapons in the world today, according to the BAS, which cautioned that "it is still possible for radical groups to acquire and use highly enriched uranium and plutonium to wreak havoc in nuclear attacks." It also referenced last year's accident at Japan's Fukushima nuclear facility, saying the disaster underscored the urgency of developing safer nuclear reactor designs as well as better oversight, training, and attention. The gloom did not end there. The Bulletin believes that the world may have neared what it called "a point of no return in efforts to prevent catastrophe from changes in Earth's atmosphere." It said that in the absence of finding alternatives to carbon-emitting energy technologies within five years," the world will be doomed to a warmer climate, harsher weather, droughts, famine, water scarcity, rising sea levels, loss of island nations, and increasing ocean acidification. "Unfortunately, Einstein's statement in 1946 that 'everything has changed, save the way we think,' remains true," said BAS co-chair Lawrence Krauss. "The provisional developments of 2 years ago have not been sustained, and it makes sense to move the clock closer to midnight, back to the value it had in 2007." (Read by Emily Cheng. Emily Cheng is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
周二,科學(xué)家們把邪惡的“末日之鐘”的指針撥快了一分鐘,相對(duì)于去年更加逼近“末日” ,表示他們對(duì)于世界領(lǐng)袖應(yīng)對(duì)全球威脅的行動(dòng)感到越來(lái)越悲觀。 《原子科學(xué)家公報(bào)》冷靜地分析了現(xiàn)在的趨勢(shì),指出:“現(xiàn)在是午夜11時(shí)55分,兩年前世界領(lǐng)袖們看上去好像真的能解決我們面臨的全球威脅。但是很多情況下,這一樂(lè)觀的趨勢(shì)并未持續(xù)或者說(shuō)已經(jīng)逆轉(zhuǎn)?!?/p> 2010年1月,“末日之鐘”的分針從11時(shí)55分調(diào)回11時(shí)54分。午夜零時(shí)象征著人類(lèi)的毀滅。 “末日之鐘”于1947年設(shè)立,代表了人類(lèi)感受到的來(lái)自核武器或生化武器、氣候變化及其它人為災(zāi)難等威脅的嚴(yán)峻程度。《原子科學(xué)家公報(bào)》雜志每年都有調(diào)整“末日之鐘”的慣例, “末日之鐘”最初設(shè)定在午夜11時(shí)53分。美國(guó)1953年試爆第一顆氫彈后,“末日之鐘”調(diào)整至晚11時(shí)58分。美俄于1991年開(kāi)始減少核軍火庫(kù)規(guī)模之后,“末日之鐘”又調(diào)整到11時(shí)43分。 對(duì)于這次最新的調(diào)整,《原子科學(xué)家公報(bào)》解釋稱(chēng),他們?yōu)槿蝾I(lǐng)袖未能在清除核武器方面取得進(jìn)展而感到惋惜。 據(jù)《原子科學(xué)家公報(bào)》報(bào)道,現(xiàn)在全球有一萬(wàn)九千五百個(gè)核武器,并警告說(shuō)“激進(jìn)分子仍有可能獲得并且使用高濃縮鈾和钚來(lái)發(fā)動(dòng)核襲擊造成嚴(yán)重破壞”。 該雜志還提到了去年在日本福島核電站發(fā)生的核泄漏事件,認(rèn)為這次災(zāi)難凸顯了設(shè)計(jì)開(kāi)發(fā)更安全的核反應(yīng)堆、加強(qiáng)監(jiān)督、培訓(xùn)和提高關(guān)注度的緊迫性。 災(zāi)難帶來(lái)的陰霾并不止于此。公報(bào)稱(chēng)世界或許已經(jīng)接近了“地球氣候變暖引發(fā)大災(zāi)難的不可逆轉(zhuǎn)之點(diǎn)”。“如果五年之內(nèi)找不到碳排放能源技術(shù)的替代方法”,世界注定會(huì)出現(xiàn)氣候變暖、極端天氣、干旱、饑荒、缺水、海平面上升、島國(guó)消失和海洋日趨酸化。 《原子科學(xué)家公報(bào)》副主席勞倫斯?克勞斯說(shuō):“不幸的是,愛(ài)因斯坦在1946年所說(shuō)的‘一切都已改變,除了我們的思維方式’依然正確。兩年前的短暫發(fā)展沒(méi)有延續(xù),所以把‘末日之鐘’調(diào)回2007年更接近午夜的時(shí)間是合理的?!?/p> 相關(guān)閱讀 英國(guó)調(diào)查:假如地球只剩最后一小時(shí)? 科學(xué)家稱(chēng)2010災(zāi)害頻發(fā)多人為造成 警告!太空垃圾數(shù)量已達(dá)“臨界點(diǎn)” 專(zhuān)家:2050年地球或?qū)⒚婺咳?/a> (中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津 實(shí)習(xí)生蔡冬梅 編輯:陳丹妮) |
Vocabulary: infamous: 聲名狼藉的;罪大惡極的 staple: 經(jīng)常性?xún)?nèi)容 arsenals: 軍械庫(kù);兵工廠 rid...of: 從……清除 wreak: 造成(破壞)等 havoc: 大破壞,浩劫 reference: 提及 oversight: 監(jiān)督;照管 save: 除了 provisional: 臨時(shí)的,暫時(shí)性的 |