The doomsday clock was recently pushed back by 1 minute  to become 6 minutes to midnight.

Functioning as a symbolic clock face, the doomsday clock was created in 1947, during the start of the cold war. The analogy represents how close humankind is from a major apocalypse, be it a nuclear war or an extreme climate change.

In accordance with the ephemeral and volatile nature of the international political scene, the clock has been changed 19 times over 63 years, with 2 minutes being the closest the world has ever been from a catastrophe.

The recent change was, officially, due to worldwide cooperation to reduce nuclear arsenals and limit the effect of climate change.

Indeed, the year of 2009, beginning with President Barack Obama’s inauguration, has been seen a shift in international relationships towards a system of convergence. India has agreed to ratify the ratifies Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, North Korea has remained silent nuclear weapons wise and the Palestine-Israel talks are finally headed towards a concrete direction.

However, Iran continues to demand vociferously for the right to enrich uranium, Yemen and Pakistan are packed with Al-Qaeda fighters, and China incessantly encroaches upon the human rights of its citizens.

How will 2010 be for this planet we call Earth? Your bet is as good as mine.

The current time of the Doomsday Clock, 11:54