Scientists announced that they are moving up the Doomsday Clock two minutes due to the increasing global threat of climate change.

Doomsday Clock At 3-Minutes To Midnight

The Bulletin’s Science and Security Board announced the change on Thursday, presenting the world with a new Doomsday Clock that now has the world at three minutes to midnight (the apocalypse).

“In 2015, with the Clock hand moved forward to three minutes to midnight, the board feels compelled to add, with a sense of great urgency: ‘The probability of global catastrophe is very high, and the actions needed to reduce the risks of disaster must be taken very soon,’” said the Bulletin.

The Board regularly meets to discuss world issues and assess the potential threats to humanity to determine where to position the minute hand on the clock. The closer the minute hand is to midnight, the closer the human kind is closer to a potential world-ending global catastrophe. Created in 1947, the clock has been moved 18 times. This is the closest the clock has been to midnight since the Cold War in 1984.

“Today, unchecked climate change and a nuclear arms race resulting from modernization of huge arsenals pose extraordinary and undeniable threats to the continued existence of humanity. And world leaders have failed to act with the speed or on the scale required to protect citizens from potential catastrophe. These failures of leadership endanger every person on Earth,” said Kennette Benedict, the executive director of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

The move coincides with President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech, in which the President cautioned of the dangers of climate change and noted that 2014 was the hottest year on record.

Article by Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Olivia Truffaut-Wong was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where she developed her love of all things entertainment. After moving to New York City to earn her degree in Film Studies, she stayed on the East Coast to follow her passion and become an entertainment writer. She lives on a diet of television, movies and food.