Two minutes to midnight

That clock has been close to midnight my whole life. 69 years.

If they do start throwing nukes about I would hope one hit me on the head rather than a close miss killing me by a slow death from radiation.

In other circumstances such as an epidemic or climate change I am in a location where a subsistence existence could be possible for a time.

Private water supply gravity fed, sewage system , solar panels which could be modified to provide DC power in daylight hours, wood burner with back boiler for hot water and a gravity fed radiator. Problem is when other survivors notice that I (or whoever is living here)  would be run off or killed without doubt. When push comes to shove I would do the same but I am too old to put up much of a fight. I have no weapons apart from axes and knives.

I would hope my wine cellar was well stocked. :)

Well, of course the clock has always been close to midnight. Maybe this'll help:

The point is, it's as close to midnight now as it has ever been.  

1953: Two minutes to midnight.

1960: America nearly launches unprovoked nuclear strike on Russia when NORAD early warning system mistakes the rising moon for a Soviet first-strike

1962: Cuban Missile Crisis

1983: Operation Able Archer. Stanislav Petrov saves the world & is court-martialled.  

Thanks for this graph DF5 that is very interesting indeed.

What jumps out at me is the political situation when the clock was closest to midnight. Might just be a coincidence but it seems Conservative governments are more scary than Labour ones.:)

So we were last this close during the Thatcher/Reagan years. 

Yes interesting indeed but is there a time lag you are missing with this data? Could be that it takes a year or two for the change to occur after the election?

Yes interesting indeed but is there a time lag you are missing with this data? Could be that it takes a year or two for the change to occur after the election?