Doomsday Clock clicks half a minute toward midnight

Arizona State University New Origins Initiative Director Lawrence Krauss (C) and Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Science and Security Board member Thomas Pickering (R) unveil the latest version of the Doomsday Clock with Stockholm Environment Institute Senior Scientist Sivan Kartha (L) and Center for Strategic and International Studies' Proliferation Prevention Program Director Sharon Squassoni during a news conference at the National Press Club January 26, 2016 in Washington, DC. The bulletin's Science and Security Board takes into consideration 'the number and kinds of nuclear weapons in the world, the parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the degree of acidity in our oceans and the rate of sea level rise' when setting the clock as a warning against self-destruction.

Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Arizona State University New Origins Initiative Director Lawrence Krauss (C) and Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Science and Security Board member Thomas Pickering (R) unveil the latest version of the Doomsday Clock with Stockholm Environment Institute Senior Scientist Sivan Kartha (L) and Center for Strategic and International Studies' Proliferation Prevention Program Director Sharon Squassoni during a news conference at the National Press Club January 26, 2016 in Washington, DC. The bulletin's Science and Security Board takes into consideration 'the number and kinds of nuclear weapons in the world, the parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the degree of acidity in our oceans and the rate of sea level rise' when setting the clock as a warning against self-destruction.

Does it feel like there's no hope, and we're spiraling toward oblivion?

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the keepers of what is called the Doomsday Clock, took a look at the state of the world today and was expected to move the clock one minute closer to "midnight," The Los Angeles Times reported.

The clock is a metaphor for how close the world is to a catastrophe.

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However, they did not make that drastic of a move. Rather, the scientists moved the clock half a minute, or 30 seconds, closer to doomsday. The clock now sits at 2 1/2 minutes.

The clock has been as close as two minutes in 1953 during hydrogen bomb testing. It had been further away from "doomsday" until 2015, when it was set to three minutes, according to the group's timeline.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was started by the physicists from the Manhattan Projects, the developers of the atomic bomb in 1947, The Telegraph reported.