Atomic Scientists: We’re getting even closer to doomsday

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WASHINGTON — The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists says Earth is now closer to human-caused doomsday than it has been in more than 30 years because of global warming and nuclear weaponry.

The advocacy group founded by the creators of the atomic bomb moved their famed “Doomsday Clock” ahead two minutes on Thursday. It said the world is now three minutes from a catastrophic midnight, instead of five minutes.

This is the second closest the world has been to midnight in the 68 years of the doomsday clock. The only closer time was two minutes till midnight in 1953 when the United States and the then-Soviet Union pursued the hydrogen bomb.

Group executive director Kennette Benedict called both climate change and modernization of nuclear weaponry undeniable threats to humanity’s continued existence.