Views can watch a live feed of the minute hand being moved on the “Doomsday Clock” today (14 January) at 1500 GMT.

For the first time ever the movement of the minute hand on the “Doomsday Clock” will be shown through a live web feed from New York City at 1500 GMT on 14 January 2009.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS), which was founded in 1945 by the University of Chicago, created the Doomsday Clock just two years later as a “way to convey both the imagery of apocalypse and the contemporary idiom of nuclear explosion.”

In plain English the clock conveys how close humanity is to catastrophic destruction – the figurative midnight. BAS considers how the world has moved forward, or not, with regards to some of the biggest problems facing humankind – nuclear weapons, climate change and emerging biological threats. The clock’s minute hand then moves forward or back based on the results.

According to the BAS a number of factors have contributed to the decision to move the minute hand, including international negotiations on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, expansion of civilian nuclear power, the possibilities of nuclear terrorism and climate change.

It is unknown which way or by how many minutes the clock hand will move. It was last moved in 2007 when it was pushed forward by two minutes from seven to five minutes before midnight. The BAS cited “global failures to solve the problems posed by nuclear weapons and the climate crisis” as the reasons for the move.

The minute hand was at its earliest setting in 1991 when it was moved back to 17 minutes to midnight after the US and Soviet Union signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty; and at its closest to midnight in 1953 when it was moved to two minutes to midnight when both the United States and the Soviet Union pursued the testing of the Hydrogen (H) bomb.

BAS counts renowned professor Stephen Hawking as a member of its board.

Visit www.turnbacktheclock.org to watch the live web feed.