Five Minutes.

At times, scheduled surgical cases can be placed on hold due to weather, staffing issues or a wide array of concerns including patient difficulties. While taking an extended break today, patiently awaiting a patient to arrive for their procedure, I read up on the recent developments in the news. A news story today by the 62-year-old atomic bomb watchdog organization Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists pushed their Doomsday Clock (a representive clock that strikes midnight at the time of nuclear proliferation and war) two minutes closer to the witching hour. The organization stated that there are five minutes left until midnight due to the standoff and tensions rising with weapon seeking nations Iran and North Korea as well as the effects that human beings are having on the globe through carbon emissions and climate change. Renouned astrophysist, mathematician and author Professor Steven Hawking, a member of the bulletin's board of sponsors, released a statement of his views on why the clock's move was considered so grave.

"As scientists, we understand the dangers of nuclear weapons and their devastating effects, and we are learning how human activities and technologies are affecting climate systems in ways that may forever change life on earth."

A timeline of the clock's movement forward and backward from midnight can be found here.