Guess Which Way the Doomsday Clock Just Ticked
Scientists say we’re now as close to self-destruction as during the height of the Cold War.
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A group of scientists warn that human civilization is nearer destruction than at any time since 1953. Amid nuclear proliferation, American leadership that dismisses climate change—and in a nod to the 2016 U.S. presidential election—the risk of fake news sparking a crisis, the end is apparently a lot closer than it used to be.
The Doomsday Clock, set by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, was reset Thursday to 2.5 minutes until midnight, a change from 3 minutes, where it was set for two years. It was the first time the organization changed the clock by a half-minute. In 2015, the group changed it from 5 minutes to 3 minutes until midnight, citing threats from “unchecked climate change” and aging nuclear arsenals.