The Doomsday Clock ticks closer to midnight. Tonight we're gonna party like it's 23:57. The Doomsday Clock, mounted in 1947 by the members of the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, edged closer to midnight over the weekend. It now stands at 11:57. When the clock strikes 12.00, it rings in the apocalypse.
The Doomsday Clock, which hangs on a wall in the Bulletin's office in the University of Chicago, is a symbolic clock face that symbolizes a countdown to global catastrophe. The hands haven't moved in three years, but with the scientific consensus on climate change, along with worldwide nuclear proliferation and increased tensions between the United States and Russia over the Ukrainian crisis, that changed on Jan. 22, 2015. Scientists reportedly believe "the probability of global catastrophe is very high."
"We are not saying it is too late to take action but the window for action is closing rapidly. We move the clock hand today to inspire action," executive director of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Kennette Benedict, said in a news conference in Washington, D.C. "
The Doomsday Clock had been fixed at 5 minutes to midnight since 2012. The Doomsday clock was originally a symbolic warning about the threat of global nuclear war. In 2007, the criteria for the apocalypse was expanded to include the ravages of climate change.
The clock advances on the advice of its Governing Board and the Board of Sponsors of the Atomic Scientists Science and Security Board, which includes 18 Nobel Laureates. The clock was built by University of Chicago scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project in 1945.
The last time the clock was set at 3 minutes to midnight was in 1984, when the Cold War was in full force and communications between the United States and the Soviet Union broke down. The clock also hit 3 minutes to to midnight when the Soviet Union tested their first nuclear device in 1949.
According to Wikipedia, the earth was at its safest in 1991, when the clock was turned back to 17 minutes to midnight following an agreement between the U.S. and the Soviet Union to cut back on their nuclear arsenals.
The Doomsday Clock reached 2 minutes to midnight when the U.S. first tested the H-Bomb in 1953. That was the closest the clock has ever been to midnight
