Doomsday clock moves forward one minute

The end of the world is getting closer and humankind is to blame. Photo / Thinkstock

The end of the world is getting closer and humankind is to blame.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has moved the hands of its famous Doomsday Clock forward one minute to five minutes to midnight.

The clock is used as an indicator of the world's "vulnerability to catastrophe from nuclear weapons, climate change, and emerging technologies in the life sciences".

"It is five minutes to midnight. Two years ago, it appeared that world leaders might address the truly global threats that we face.

In many cases, that trend has not continued or been reversed. For that reason, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is moving the clock hand one minute closer to midnight, back to its time in 2007," the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists said in a formal statement.

Inadequate progress on the reduction and proliferation of nuclear weapons, and the continuing inaction on climate change are cited as the reasons for the change.

The group also said the Fukushima power plant crisis highlighted the need to ensure nuclear energy is safe.

The Mayan 2012 Prophecy, however, was not among the reasons given.

The Doomsday Clock was created in 1947 and uses "the imagery of apocalypse (midnight) and the contemporary idiom of nuclear explosion (countdown to zero), to convey threats to humanity and the planet", the Bulletin said on its website.

The decision to move the minute hand is made by the Bulletin's board of directors in consultation with its board of sponsors, which includes 18 Nobel Laureates.

The last time the Doomsday Clock minute hand moved was in January last year, when the minute hand was pushed back one minute from five to six minutes before midnight.