Doomsday Clock Ticks Half Minute To Armageddon; New Setting At 2.5 Minutes To Midnight

CHICAGO, IL — The Doomsday Clock, the symbolic metric gauging how close the end of the world is, has been set at two minutes and 30 seconds before midnight, the closest it's been to global disaster in nearly 65 years.

A loss of confidence in democratic institutions, U.S.-Russian relations and President Donald Trump's views concerning the threats of nuclear weapons proliferation and climate change were some of the reasons given Thursday for the half-minute "tick" — the clock's time had stood at three minutes until midnight since 2015 — by The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, the Chicago-based academic journal that established the clock in 1947.

This is the first time in the clock's 70-year history that it has been moved less than a full minute, according to a statement explaining the new setting. Trump's concerning rhetoric combined with his short time in office were cited for why the half-measure was taken.

"As this statement is issued, Donald Trump has been the US president only a matter of days. Many of his cabinet nominations are not yet confirmed by the Senate or installed in government, and he has had little time to take official action," the statement said.

"Just the same, words matter, and President Trump has had plenty to say over the last year. Both his statements and his actions as president-elect have broken with historical precedent in unsettling ways."

WATCH: Check Out the Video of the Announcement From The Associated Press:

Rachel Bronson, the Bulletin's executive director and publisher, said this year's discussions at where the clock should be set "felt more urgent than usual."

"On the big topics that concern the board, world leaders made too little progress in the face of continuing turbulence," she wrote in her executive director statement. "In addition to the existential threats posed by nuclear weapons and climate change, new global realities emerged, as trusted sources of information came under attack, fake news was on the rise, and words were used in cavalier and often reckless ways."

Originally, the Doomsday Clock was designed to highlight the threat the increasing U.S. and Soviet nuclear arsenal posed in the Cold War. In 2007, the Bulletin began factoring in climate change to its discussions about the clock's time setting.

RELATED: Read the Full Statement Explaining the Doomsday Clock's New Setting

The clock, which was not created to be a forecasting tool, was set at seven minutes before midnight when it was created in 1947. The closest the clock has been to its metaphoric Armageddon mark is two minutes to midnight. That was in 1953 after the United States and Soviet Union tested thermonuclear weapons within six months of each other.

It's farthest-from-midnight setting was 17 minutes in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

WATCH: The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists announce the new setting for the Doomsday Clock:

Go to the Doomsday Clock page on the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists' website for more information.

photo via Pixabay

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