The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, in a statement accompanying the move Thursday, cited “wavering public confidence in the democratic institutions required to deal with major world threats.” It says “deception campaigns” by Russia to disrupt the U.S. election have made the world more dangerous by bringing “American democracy and Russian intentions into question.”
The Doomsday Clock now stands at 2 ½ minutes to midnight, the closest it has been since the 1950s.
The clock is a visual representation of how close the Bulletin believes the world is to catastrophe brought on by nuclear weapons, climate change and new technologies.