Google searches for 'World War 3' hit all-time high

With tensions rising between the US and North Korea, as well as Donald Trump's military escalation in Syria, it seems an air of concern has spread across the globe. Fittingly, Google searches for 'World War 3' have reached a record high.

The search term has rocketed during April 2017, hitting its all-time spike since Google started collecting trending records for search back in 2004.

The snapshot below from Google Trends shows what the world is searching for and an indication that people are seeking answers on whether we're on the brink of seeing World War III breakout.

With the recent US airstrikes on Syria, it appears many have asked this exact question. In the past 30 days residents of the United States and UK top the list as the most interested region about the topic with related searches including 'has World War 3 been declared?' and 'Is there going to be a World War 3?' among the most queried.

The recent spike eclipses the previous high from November 2015 where the search was trending following the news of a Russian fighter jet being shot down by Turkey, leading Vladimir Putin to warn of 'serious consequences'. It had social media users feverishly tweeting and speculating, which contributed to the huge online interest.

Recent events have seen the US deploy a fleet of Navy vessels to the Korean peninsula due to rising concerns over North Korea's nuclear missile testing, claiming it will launch a military strike on the country if necessary.

With the US involved with North Korea and Syria, as well as an uncertain relationship with Russia, this has also led to the search term 'going to war' to hit its highest ever peak too — with nearly all searches coming from within the US. It passes the previous high from September 2013, where the US and Syria stand-off was reaching boiling point. Here, the most related search term is 'are we going to war with Syria', which has seen a breakout rise. The same search question can also be seen to apply for Russia and North Korea.

In light of the rising chatter of World War III the gold market has seen a frenzied rise in price as gold futures and spot prices shot up by over $12 an ounce, while the oil market has also saw prices per barrel spike to $56 following the airstrikes.