Created in 1947 by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the Doomsday Clock is an analogy to show how close the world is to total annihilation.

The Doomsday Clock is a design that warns the public about how close we are to destroying our world with dangerous technologies of our own making. It is a metaphor, a reminder of the perils we must address if we are to survive on the planet, according to thebulletin.org.

The time setting for 2019 was revealed on Jan. 24, at two minutes to midnight (midnight representing the impending apocalypse).

“Humanity now faces two simultaneous existential threats, either of which would be cause for extreme concern and immediate attention,” stated the website’s overview on the clock. “These major threats—nuclear weapons and climate change—were exacerbated this past year by the increased use of information warfare to undermine democracy around the world, amplifying risk from these and other threats and putting the future of civilization in extraordinary danger.”

The last time the clock was this close to midnight was in 1953, at the height of the Cold War when nuclear tensions were high.

“The Doomsday Clock was first set at two minutes to midnight in 1953, after the Soviet Union exploded a thermonuclear device within a year of the first US hydrogen bomb test,” stated the website.

While this setting may be quite disheartening to most, it can be seen as a wake-up call to the people of this world. That is the sole purpose of the clock.