After a grueling 2016, some scientists have decided to adjust the hands on the symbolic “Doomsday Clock” because they believe the world has inched more toward the end of humanity, NPR reports.
On Wednesday, the Chicago-based Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the clock’s second hand 30 seconds closer to midnight, leaving the world two-and-a-half minutes nearer to the apocalypse. This is the closest the clock has been set to midnight since 1953, when it was at 11:48 PM because the Americans and Soviets were testing hydrogen bombs above ground.
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According to a statement on the group’s website, we’re approaching “Doomsday” faster due to: “A rise in strident nationalism worldwide, President Donald Trump’s comments on nuclear arms and climate issues, a darkening global security landscape that is colored by increasingly sophisticated technology, and a growing disregard for scientific expertise.”
Scientists involved in the Manhattan Project created the clock in 1947, and since then, the group has been meeting a couple times each year to discuss and research global factors that could cause a nuclear disaster. This year, it made a special shout-out to fake news, automated military systems, and climate change for potentially hurtling us faster toward end times.
