The Doomsday Clock is as close to midnight as ever as scientists warn the world is "perilously close to global disaster."
On Tuesday, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists shifted the clock to 85 seconds before midnight — the closest it's been to global annihilation since its creation. Midnight symbolizes the point at which humans have made Earth uninhabitable.
RELATED STORY | President Trump says the US will resume nuclear weapons testing 'immediately'
"A year ago, we warned that the world was perilously close to global disaster and that any delay in reversing course increased the probability of catastrophe," the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists said in a statement. "Rather than heed this warning, Russia, China, the United States, and other major countries have instead become increasingly aggressive, adversarial, and nationalistic."
"Hard-won global understandings are collapsing, accelerating a winner-takes-all great power competition and undermining the international cooperation critical to reducing the risks of nuclear war, climate change, the misuse of biotechnology, the potential threat of artificial intelligence, and other apocalyptic dangers," the group added.
WATCH | Russia suspends only remaining major nuclear treaty with US
However, not all hope is lost. The Bulletin said the threats of global disaster can be mitigated and urged world leaders to act now to move the clock backward.
"Our current trajectory is unsustainable," they said. "National leaders—particularly those in the United States, Russia, and China—must take the lead in finding a path away from the brink. Citizens must insist they do so."
FROM THE ARCHIVES | 'The Atomic Age': How The Era Of Nuclear Anxiety Affects Us Today
The symbolic Doomsday Clock debuted in 1947, beginning at seven minutes to midnight and ticking back and forth for decades. It was created by a group of scientists including Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer following their work on the Manhattan Project — a U.S. top-secret mission during World War II to build the world's first atomic bomb. Their goal was to create a clear way to warn the world about existential threats to humanity.
The furthest away the Doomsday Clock has been from midnight was 17 minutes in 1991, after the end of the Cold War. Last year, it was set to 89 seconds to midnight — the previous closest setting to global catastrophe.
