Scientists move Doomsday Clock 30 seconds closer to midnight

Doomsday Clock closest to midnight since 1953 Here's why the hands of the Doomsday Clock have moved to 11:58 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- The keepers of the Doomsday Clock have moved the symbolic countdown to potential global catastrophe 30 seconds closer to midnight based on U.S. President Donald Trump's comments on nuclear weapons and climate change.

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 1/2 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.