|
Doomsday Clock
The overview and timeline for the doomsday clock:
The Bulletin of the
Atomic Scientists has told the world what time it is since 1947, when
its famous clock appeared on the cover. Since then, the clock has moved
forward and back, reflecting the state of international security.
1947: Seven minutes to midnight
The clock first appears on the Bulletin cover as a symbol of nuclear danger.
1949: Three minutes to midnight
The Soviet Union explodes its first atomic bomb.
1953: Two minutes to midnight
The United States and the Soviet Union test thermonuclear devices within nine months of one another.
1960 Seven minutes to midnight
The clock moves in
response to the growing public understanding that nuclear weapons made
war between the major powers irrational. International scientific
cooperation and efforts to aid poor nations are cited.
1963 Twelve minutes to midnight
The U.S. and Soviet
signing of the Partial Test Ban Treaty "provides the first tangible
confirmation of what has been the Bulletin's conviction in recent
years-that a new cohesive force has entered the interplay of forces
shaping the fate of mankind."
1968 Seven minutes to midnight
China acquires
nuclear weapons; wars rage in the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent,
and Vietnam; world military spending increases while development funds
shrink.
1969 Ten minutes to midnight
The U.S. Senate ratifies the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
1972 Twelve minutes to midnight
The United States
and the Soviet Union sign the first Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty
(SALT I) and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty; progress toward SALT II
is anticipated.
1974 Nine minutes to midnight
SALT talks reach an
impasse; India develops a nuclear weapon. "We find policy-makers on
both sides increasingly ensnared, frustrated, and neutralized by
domestic forces having a vested interest in the amassing of strategic
forces."
1980 Seven minutes to midnight
The deadlock in
U.S.-Soviet arms talks continues; nationalistic wars and terrorist
actions increase; the gulf between rich and poor nations grows wider.
1981 Four minutes to midnight
Both superpowers
develop more weapons for fighting a nuclear war. Terrorist actions,
repression of human rights, and conflicts in Afghanistan, Poland, and
South Africa add to world tension.
1984 Three minutes to midnight
The arms race
accelerates. "Arms control negotiations have been reduced to a species
of propaganda. . . . The blunt simplicities of force threaten to
displace any other form of discourse between the superpowers."
1988 Six minutes to midnight
The United States
and the Soviet Union sign a treaty to eliminate intermediate-range
nuclear forces (INF); superpower relations improve; more nations
actively oppose nuclear weapons.
1990 Ten minutes to midnight
The clock,
redesigned in 1989, reflects democratic movements in Eastern Europe,
which shatter the myth of monolithic communism; the Cold War ends.
1991 Seventeen minutes to midnight
The United States
and the Soviet Union sign the long-stalled Strategic Arms Reduction
Treaty (START) and announce further unilateral cuts in tactical and
strategic nuclear weapons.
1995 Fourteen minutes to midnight
Further arms
reductions are stalled while global military spending continues at Cold
War levels. Nuclear "leakage" from poorly guarded former Soviet
facilities is recognized as a growing risk.
1998 Nine minutes to midnight
India and Pakistan
"go public" with nuclear tests. The United States and Russia can't
agree on further deep reductions in their stockpiles.
2002 Seven minutes to midnight
Little progress is
made on global nuclear disarmament. The United States rejects a series
of arms control treaties and announces it will withdraw from the
Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Terrorists seek to acquire and use
nuclear and biological weapons.
2007 Five minutes to midnight
The world stands at the brink of a second nuclear age. The United States and
Russia remain ready to stage a nuclear attack within minutes, North Korea
conducts a nuclear test, and many in the international community worry that Iran
plans to acquire the Bomb. Climate change also presents a dire challenge to
humanity. Damage to ecosystems is already taking place; flooding, destructive
storms, increased drought, and polar ice melt are causing loss of life and
property.
|
Armageddon Clock
The overview and timeline for the Armageddon Clock:
The Armageddon
Clock, unlike the Doomsday Clock, moves ever forward. Each tick of its
second hand --the nation Israel, and the issues and events of Bible
Prophecy-- brings the world nearer the starting point of what will be
man's most horrific war. The Armageddon Clock marks Antichrist's
confirming the false peace covenant described in Daniel 9:27. The
signing of that covenant will initiate the Tribulation era (Daniel's
Seventieth Week. That great conflict will culminate with the Second
coming of Jesus Christ back to Planet Earth. The on-going timeline of
issues and events leading to that moment are:
1800s: 30 minutes to midnight
Although Jews have been returning to the land of promise a few at a time
since their last scattering, it wasn't until the 1800s that they started
going home in significant numbers. Jews were in the majority in the area
by 1880. Large portions of land were purchased, bringing about more and
more rural Jewish communities. As the Zionist movement gained backing,
plans were made to return on a widening scale.
1914: 25 minutes to midnight
The Jewish population reached 85,000 by the time World War I began in
1914. This compared to only 5,000 populating the land early in the
previous century.
1917: 20 minutes to midnight
British Foreign Secretary Arthur J. Balfour issued on behalf of England,
the Balfour Declaration on November 17, 1917. The Balfour declaration
indicated approval of the Jewish goal of bringing about a Jewish state
in Palestine.
1939: 17 minutes to midnight
Adolf Hitler and the Nazis carried out persecution against all Jews
within Hitler's sphere of influence. While Hitler, along with the Arab
enemies of the Jews in Palestine turned up the heat of persecution
against the Jewish race, the British, the controlling authority in
Palestine, developed a White Paper, severely restricting Jewish
immigration.
1940-1945: 15 minutes to midnight
Adolf Hitler's Germany perpetrated genocide upon the Jewish race, during
which more than 6 million Jews were murdered in the holocaust.
1947: 12 minutes to midnight
Dead Sea Scrolls found at Qumran, validating much of Old Testament
writings. Jewish leadership plan a return to Zion (Jerusalem) for
purpose of establishing a nation.
1948: 8 minutes to midnight
Israel reborn as a nation on May 14, 1948. Jews back in their Promise
Land, just as prophesied for the last days by all Bible prophets.
1952: 7 minutes to midnight
In November, the United States tests its first hydrogen bomb on Elugelap
island. The bast was equal to 10.4 megatons, 700 times the power of
Little Boy.
1957: 6 minutes to midnight
The Treaties establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) and the
European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) are signed by the Six
(Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands) in Rome as of
today they will be referred to as the "Treaties of Rome".
1967: 5 minutes to midnight
On June 5 the six-day war begins: Israel destroys the Arab air forces;
captures land three times the area of itself; and most importantly, the
Jewish people win the right to free control the city of Jerusalem for
the first time in over 2000 years.
1999: 4 minutes to midnight
In January of 1999 eleven European Union countries begin using the euro
as their common currency.
2002: 3 minutes to midnight
European leaders hammered out an agreement to bring 10 new countries
into the European Union. Most of the new members will be former Soviet
eastern block states.
2004: 3 minutes to midnight
Years of rapid growth in the Chinese economy has caused the eastern
giant to become a major competitor for the earth's scarce resources.
China's growing dependence on oil
will cause its interests to focus more on the Middle East.
2005: 3 minutes to midnight
The 2005 Atlantic
hurricane season was the most active Atlantic hurricane season in
recorded history. Records were set in the most number of storms - 28,
the most reaching hurricane strength - 15, and the most reached
Category 5 strength - 4. Hurricane Katrina was the most destructive,
and hurricane Wilma was the most intense hurricane ever observed in the
Atlantic basin.
2008: 2 minutes to midnight
You would have to go back to the days before Pearl Harbor to find a more
pronounced state of apathy about dangers facing the world.
"Even So, Come Lord Jesus!"
|