A Doomsday Clock reading guide
The Doomsday Clock revision also includes the risks posed by hacking and artificial intelligence. It is the first time IT issues have been considered in the group's clock-setting deliberations, according Janice Sinclair, the Bulletin's spokesperson.
The clock was established in 1947, and the furthest it has ever been from midnight was in 1991, when it was set at 17 minutes. The closest was in 1953, when it was set at two minutes to midnight in response to U.S. and Soviet Union nuclear tests.
In its latest update, the group says carbon emissions are "profoundly transforming earth's climate," and efforts to reduce nuclear arms "has ground to a halt."
These problems, climate change and nuclear proliferation, are related, the group warned. The effort to reduce carbon emissions is fueling interest in nuclear power generation, which will lead to the spread of dual-use nuclear technology -- and, thus, increase the odds of a nuclear war, Kennette Benedict, the bulletin's executive director, said at a news conference Thursday.
"Stunning government failures have imperiled civilization on a global scale," said Benedict, in explaining the Doomsday Clock adjustment, the first in three years.
This organization sees a threat in cyber-attacks "with the potential to destabilize governmental and financial institutions," and "to serve as a medium for new escalations of international tensions."
Artificial intelligence is also raising concerns "about human command and control capabilities in the field, on national and international scales, over coming decades."
The Bulletin is not alone in warning about doomsday. For more on this subject, here are some things to read: