In 1945, physicists and other scientific experts created the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists in response to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and to educate the public to the dangers posed by nuclear weapons. Two years later, the Bulletin launched the “Doomsday Clock,” a marker of how close we are to nuclear annihilation. With the last nuclear arms control agreement between the US and Russia, New START, set to expire on February 5, alongside growing dangers posed by AI, President Trump’s call to resume nuclear testing, nuclear threats from Russia and Israel, escalating hostilities between India and Pakistan, , and China’s increasing threats toward Taiwan, the Doomsday Clock today was set to 85 second to midnight, the closest it has ever been since its creation.
As Alexendra Bell, the Bulletin’s CEO, stated in her announcement, this moment is a call to action. We cannot sit idly by as escalating tensions, eroding diplomacy, and growing risks of miscalculation inch us closer to nuclear war and ending life on the planet. History shows that organizing and taking action can lead to significant victories. Global nuclear arsenals have fallen from 70,300 nuclear weapons in 1986 to around 12,300 today. Over that same time span, the US stockpile went from over 25,000 nuclear weapons, down to 5,044. From the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty to the INF Treaty, from the NPT to the TPNW, these victories occurred because people educated, motivated, and galvanized others to action. President Reagan changed his position on nuclear weapons stating a nuclear war can never be won and must never be fought, in part because one million people marched and rallied in New York City in 1982 demanding an end to the arms race.
Since 1945, people around the world, led by atomic bomb survivors, have collectively called for nuclear disarmament, and that collective effort is why we are still here today. Now, as the world inches closer to nuclear war, we once again raise the antinuclear banner. Now is when we need to look at South Africa to study and find inspiration from a country that defeated apartheid and eliminated its nuclear weapons program completely.
You do not need to have a Ph.D. in Physics or be an expert in nuclear policy to make a difference. You can demand action from your elected representatives, support organizations like OPSR working to eliminate the nuclear threat, start a book club to educate yourself and others on the issue, write an op-ed to your local paper, host a film screening, or simply reach one person at a time. With trillions spent on nuclear weapons instead of human needs, the ongoing harms of nuclear waste and uranium mining, the risk of renewed nuclear testing, and the very real possibility of a nuclear exchange somewhere in the world in our lifetime, now is not the time to fall into despair. We have stopped this madness before and we can do it again, but not without all of us, together, speaking with one voice and saying the words of the atomic bomb survivors: “No More Hiroshimas!”