Doomsday Clock Now Closest to Midnight in Its 73-Year History

Citing nuclear war and climate change, the keepers of the Doomsday Clock moved it another 20 seconds closer to midnight on Thursday, the closest the symbolic clock has ever been to “midnight,” otherwise known as the end of humanity.

“The international security situation is dire, not just because these threats exist, but because world leaders have allowed the international political infrastructure for managing them to erode,” the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists said in a statement about the clock, which now stands 100 seconds away from midnight.

The Bulletin’s executive chairman, former California governor Jerry Brown, added, “Dangerous rivalry and hostility among the superpowers increases the likelihood of nuclear blunder. Climate change just compounds the crisis. If there’s ever a time to wake up, it’s now.”

Rachel Bronson, president and CEO of the group said, “We are now expressing how close the world is to catastrophe in seconds–not hours, or even minutes.”