The Doomsday Clock has stopped at 3 minutes before midnight, at which point it is believed global catastrophe will begin, say representatives from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists at the University of Chicago. It's been counting down since the Cold War.
Created in 1947, the symbolic clock has been counting down the time to worldwide nuclear catastrophe. The factors which the Doomsday Clock considers are changes in climate and the level of international security.
The arrows of the clock which will stop at midnight on the day of the apocalypse have been moved back and forth several times during the 21st century.
Last year, the atomic scientists moved the arrows 2 minutes forward to 23:57, while deciding that the time will remain unchanged for 2016.
And even though the clock is symbolic, the scientific team explains that it clearly shows the threat of global nuclear war and an upcoming Armageddon.
The reasons why the arrows were moved forward in 2015 were the climate changes and nuclear arsenals of the world, which only bring the Earth closer to catastrophe.
One of main motives of experts were the greenhouse gases, which have risen by 50% since 1990. Despite the dangerous prognoses, investments in fuel production on the planet continue to increase and are now sitting at 660 billion pounds annually.
The closer the arrows are to midnight on the Doomsday Clock, the closer the Earth is to its own annihilation. The precise time is determined only by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, where there are 17 Nobel laureates.
"Since the end of the Cold War there has been a moderate optimism that countries who have nuclear weapons would slowly move away from the precipice of nuclear extermination. But this optimism has been vanishing due to arsenal modernization programs and the refusal to disarm, " says Kennette Benedict, senior adviser to the organization that sets the clock.
Since its creation there have been 18 time corrections until now. According to the Doomsday Clock we were closest to worldwide destruction in 1953, when there were just 2 min. to midnight and we were furthest from it in 1991, when the arrows showed 17 minutes to midnight.
