Atomic scientists have set the doomsday clock for this year closer to midnight than ever before.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set it just 85 seconds before midnight, which is symbolically the point of annihilation. The Doomsday Clock demonstrates how close humanity is to global catastrophe, with midnight representing the apocalypse.
That's four seconds closer to midnight than it was set last year, and the third time in the last four years that scientists have moved the clock closer to midnight.
They argue for the decision by citing the aggressive behavior of nuclear powers such as Russia, China and the United States, the weakening of nuclear arms control, the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. Other concerns include artificial intelligence, climate change and biological threats.
"Of course, the end of the world is about global risks and what we have seen is a global failure of leadership," said Alexandra Bell, a nuclear expert.
Bell also mentions ongoing tensions in Asia, China's threats to Taiwan, and rising tensions in the Western Hemisphere following President Donald Trump's return to the White House a year ago.
The nonprofit organization created the Doomsday Clock in 1947 during the tensions of the Cold War that followed World War II to warn the public how close humanity was to the destruction of the world.