The Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists announced on Thursday that the Doomsday Clock has moved up and it is now three minutes to midnight.
The Doomsday Clock is the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists' symbolic and universally-recognized countdown to the world's possible political, climate-related or nuclear catastrophe.
In 2013, the minute hand was at five minutes to midnight, but during a live presentation on Thursday in Washington D.C., the BAS announced that the world is two minutes closer to the end.
"Today, unchecked climate change and a nuclear arms race resulting from modernization of huge arsenals pose extraordinary and undeniable threats to the continued existence of humanity," said Kennette Benedict, executive director of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. "And world leaders have failed to act with the speed or on the scale required to protect citizens from potential catastrophe."
According to a BAS timeline, the world has not been this close to disaster since 1953, when nuclear arms testing by the U.S. and the former Soviet Union brought us two minutes to midnight.
"We are not saying it is too late to take action, but the window for action is closing rapidly. The world needs to be awakened from its lethargy and start making changes," Benedict warned.
