Sir — The ‘Doomsday Clock’ has recently been moved forward 30 seconds as a result of world tensions and the Trump Government’s response to these issues. Thirty out of 86,400 seconds (one whole day) doesn’t seem too alarming, but when you consider it as 30 out the remaining 120 seconds, a different picture is painted.

The two main factors that contributed to this are nuclear weapons, which are enthusiastically supported by a number of the world’s leaders and climate change, enthusiastically denied by a large number of the world’s leaders.

Scientists have a reputation for being cautious, double checking their facts and processes and only publishing results they can stand behind, so perhaps we should listen to them and learn from them. The same characteristics are hardly ever seen in the leaders that are currently in charge.

The clock is only symbolic, but the problems are real. Beware — our nuclear ‘winter is coming’.

Doomsday clock