Professor Hawking: It's Five Minutes To Armageddon. The World Had Better Wake Up

Professor Hawking, of the University of Cambridge, was speaking as the group of scientists who run the Doomsday Clock — a countdown to Armageddon that was begun in 1947 — was moved two minutes closer to stand at five minutes to midnight to reflect climate change and the nuclear programmes of North Korea and Iran. “Since Hiroshima and Nagasaki, no nuclear weapons have been used in war, though the world has come uncomfortably close to disaster on more than one occasion,” Professor Hawking said. “But for good luck, we would all be dead. “As we stand at the brink of a second nuclear age and a period of unprecedented climate change, scientists have a special responsibility once again to inform the public and advise leaders about the perils that humanity faces.