Are you struggling to sober up after yesterday’s Australia Day celebrations? If a plethora of greasy food, Gatorade and Berocca isn’t doing the trick then this news will do the trick. According to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists the apocalypse is nigh after the hands of the Doomsday Clock was moved to three minutes to midnight.
The Doomsday Clock was constructed in 1947 (it’s not an actual clock), in the early years of the Cold War to measure how close humanity were to destruction via a barrage of nuclear bombs. Since then, the factors contributing to the clock’s countdown include climate change and many other threats to humankind that would spark a global calamity. Once the clock reaches midnight that’s it.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is a group of scientists, first organised in 1945 by those who had a hand in creating the first atomic weapons, and currently includes 16 Nobel Prize laureates. In a statement released today the group explained the reason behind the clock’s standing “Tensions between the United States and Russia that remain at levels reminiscent of the Cold War, the danger posed by climate change, and nuclear proliferation concerns, including the recent North Korean nuclear test, are the main factors influencing the decision about any adjustment that may be made to the Doomsday Clock.”
There has been no statements as to whether the upcoming hot mess that is the Batman vs Superman movie is a catalyst as well.
The closest the clock has come to the end of the world it two minutes to midnight was in 1953 after several hydrogen tests were initiated by the U.S and the Soviet Union. Following the end of the Cold War in 1991, the countdown reached it’s lowest point at 17 minutes to midnight.
After 2012 came and went without a fuss and multiple raptures failing to live up to the hype (to the chagrin of many hardcore Christians) don’t be quick dismiss a group of professional smart people.
Game over man, game over.
First seen on Time.
