Doomsday Clock Reveals We're Three Minutes Away from Global Disaster

We may just be a bit closer to the end of the world. Scientists have moved the hand of the symbolic Doomsday Clock two minutes closer to midnight, citing unchecked climate change and the threat of nuclear weapons as the reason.

The Doomsday Clock has long been a symbol for how close humans are to global catastrophe. It was first created in 1947 when the potential of a nuclear holocaust was at its height, according to Slate magazine. Midnight on the clock represents what is, essentially, the apocalypse: a disaster of global proportions.

Now, scientists have moved the clock to 11:57 pm. That's actually the closest the clock has been to midnight since 1984, during the Cold War's peak. In fact, the clock has only been closer once; in 1953, the Soviet Union was beginning to develop a hydrogen bomb, which prompted scientists to settle the clock at 11:58 p.m., according to The Week.

While the clock is now at 11:57 p.m., though, that doesn't mean that it can't move backward in the future. The clock's time changes depending on how "close" the world is to disaster. In this case, scientists fear the looming threat of climate change-and they're not wrong in their fears. In recent years, rising global sea levels, storms and drought have impacted the globe.

The clock should be a symbol-a call to action in the global community. For now, the clock stands at 11:57 p.m., just three minutes away from doomsday.

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