The Doomsday Clock has been showing mankind's precipitous proximity to self-imposed apocalypse since 1947. Although nuclear holocaust was the primary driver during the Cold War of it's figurative midnight alarm, the clock itself is tied to many factors such as climate, economics and science. Mankind was closest to obliterating itself in between 1953 and 1960 when the clock showed two minutes to midnight and had backed all the way to seventeen minutes to midnight during the '90s. The clock has slowly been moving back towards midnight with a recent adjustment to advance within five minutes. For reasons including corporate carbon output, failure to ratify weapons treaties and other concerns, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists commented on the clock's advancement:

"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."