“While this was happening, the Trump administration dutifully carried through on the campaign promise of derailing U.S. allies have needed reassurance about American intentions more than ever,” said Sharon Squassoni, a professor at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. The president has drawn heavy criticism for his war of words with North Korean strongman Kim Jong Un, especially after his tweet earlier this month where he boasted that he has a bigger and more powerful 'nuclear button' than the leader in Pyongyang. Trump was faulted this year as well for the clock moving forward, with the organization blaming the president’s statements and social media posts for fueling tensions with North Korea and other nuclear powers. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN SOUTH KOREA. NOT FOR USE BY REUTERS THIRD PARTY DISTRIBUTORS. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS.

REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. KCNA via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. The group cited the abuse of social media to spread misinformation, “reckless languages in the nuclear realm,” and a lack of evidenced-based decision-making on climate and other issues as signs of our planet’s dire state.North Korean leader Kim Jong Un provides guidance with Ri Hong Sop (2nd L) and Hong Sung Mu (R) on a nuclear weapons program in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang September 3, 2017.

North Korea’s nuclear weapons program appeared to make remarkable progress in 2017, increasing risks for itself, other countries in the region and the United States.”

“To call the world nuclear situation dire is to understate the danger-and its immediacy. In fact, the Doomsday Clock is as close to midnight today as it was in 1953, when Cold War fears perhaps reached their highest levels,” Lawrence Krauss, chair of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Board of Sponsors, and Robert Rosner, chair of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Science and Security Board wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Post. “The Science and Security Board for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists assesses that the world is not only more dangerous now than it was a year ago it is as threatening as it has been since World War II. Read about what it's going to take to make things better: #doomsdayclock #nuclearwar #climate /zj8YND0grh- Scott Stapf JanuHow bad is two minutes to midnight? #RewindTheDoomsda圜lock: It is now 2 minutes to midnight.

While it was designed to broadcast the threat of nuclear proliferation, the clock-setters started to factor in climate change starting in 2007. The group tries to determine whether the world is objectively more or less safe than it was the year before, and pushes the minute hand forward or back accordingly. Now the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board makes the call, along with their Board of Sponsors (which includes 15 Novel Laureates). He used his own scientific expertise and that of fellow researchers to determine whether or not it was time to move the clock forward (or back). The clock hand’s movements used to be determined by just one guy-Eugene Rabinowitch, who edited the Bulletin in its infancy-which seems like an awful lot of responsibility. The Doomsday Clock doesn’t tick constantly, but instead moves in response to periodic deliberations on the state of humanity.

Doomsday 3 minutes to midnight