When Is The End Of The World? Doomsday Clock Predicts When Humans Will Destroy Earth

The end of humanity may be closer than expected: scientists announced the metaphoric time of the end of the world Thursday morning, setting the clock at 11:57:30 p.m. from last year’s 11:57 p.m.

The “Doomsday Clock,” assessed by a group of scientists at the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, is a metaphoric clock that represents when the world will end. The hands of the clock are set to a time that shows how many “minutes” until the apocalypse, or “midnight.”

“Factors influencing the 2017 deliberations regarding any adjustment that may be made to the Doomsday Clock include a rise in strident nationalism worldwide, President Donald Trump’s comments on nuclear arms and climate issues prior to his inauguration on Jan. 20, a darkening global security landscape that is colored by increasingly sophisticated technology, and a growing disregard for scientific expertise,” a statement released on the Bulletin’s website said.

The announcement, streamed live on Facebook, was made early Thursday morning in Washington, D.C.

Two concerns that poised the decision for the clock included “cavalier and reckless language” used around the world and especially in the U.S., as well as a disregard from the advice of experts on concerning topics like climate change, said Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists executive director and publisher Rachel Bronson.

“The board concludes in, no uncertain terms, that words matter — they’re not the same as actions, but they matter a lot,” she added.

The board warned in 2016 that three minutes to midnight is “too close, far too close” but since the concluded that dangerous rhetoric has become commonplace in the world, the group of scientists decided to move the clock half a minute closer, setting it at two and a half minutes to midnight, Bronson said.

The Doomsday Clock has been around since 1945, swinging back and forth from being closer to farther away from midnight. In 1963, the hand was set back 12 minutes to midnight after the Partial Test Ban Treaty between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. In 1991, the clock was 17 minutes to midnight after the Cold War ended.