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Bulletin Of Atomic Scientists Moves Doomsday Clock Closer To The Apocalypse

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The world is closer to Doomsday than ever before.

This from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the creators of the Doomsday Clock, at the University of Chicago.

The clock is now set at 100 seconds to midnight—the closest it has ever been to apocalypse since its creation following World War II.

The time left to midnight represents, metaphorically, how much time civilization has left to avoid the unthinkable.

Two years ago, the Bulletin moved the Doomsday Clock to two minutes to midnight—closer than it had been since 1953, when the United States and the Soviet Union successfully tested hydrogen bombs.

"We move the Clock toward midnight because the means by which political leaders had previously managed these potentially civilization-ending dangers are themselves being dismantled or undermined, without a realistic effort to replace them with new or better management regimes," Bulletin officials said in a statement.

Among the group's concerns:

  • The ending of nuclear arms agreements with the U.S., Iran and Russia.
  • The failure to address climate change "emergency"
  • The rise of information warfare online and an increase in politicians' use of propaganda.
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