"There are things happening today that are more dangerous than the Cold War. You just don't know about them yet."

That is not a defense for the scientists moving the clock. That's not what the scientists were claiming. They claim they're moving the clock for North Korea and Climate Change, not biological warfare (with or without a soupcon of genetic engineering), the immanent victory of the New World Order, the immantization of the eschaton, or whatever else you're referring to. The stated reasons are showboating, compared even to the known dangers of the Cold War.