The Doomsday Clock is now the closest it has ever been to midnight. Scientists have set the symbolic Clock at 85 seconds to midnight, issuing a dire warning about the apocalyptic danger of nuclear weapons, biological threats, climate change, and AI.
Announcing the Doomsday Clock’s new time on Tuesday, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists stated that powerful countries such as the U.S. have not only failed to act since last year’s warning, but actively worsened the situation. The Doomsday Clock was set to 89 seconds to midnight in January 2025, the closest it had ever been at the time. This week’s announcement now moves it four seconds even closer to disaster.
“Russia, China, the United States, and other major countries have instead become increasingly aggressive, adversarial, and nationalistic,” read the Bulletin’s statement, written by editor John Mecklin. “Hard-won global understandings are collapsing, accelerating a winner-takes-all great power competition and undermining the international cooperation critical to reducing the risks of nuclear war, climate change, the misuse of biotechnology, the potential threat of artificial intelligence, and other apocalyptic dangers.”
Why has the Doomsday Clock been moved forward?
Credit: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
The Doomsday Clock has been moved forward due to a concerning combination of dangers which have been exacerbated over the past year. The Bulletin noted that there were “no reassuring nuclear developments” in 2025, with the nuclear risks instead becoming increasingly normalised. Multiple conflicts involving nuclear powers are in danger of escalating, such as the war between Russia and Ukraine, while there is a dearth of global leadership regarding nuclear issues.
Meanwhile, climate change continues to threaten the planet, with greenhouse gases reaching a new high as the Trump administration abolishes support for emission reduction and environmental science. Biological threats have also increased on multiple fronts, not only because of the ongoing concern of such agents being weaponised, but also due to loss of trust in public health officials and the “rapid dismantling and degradation of U.S. public health infrastructure, expertise, and capacity.”
“Disruptive technologies” also pose a significant danger, with the Bulletin warning of threats created by AI. Reliance on AI in critical spheres such as the military is a concern, particularly as such large language models are prone to hallucinate, as well as the potential for such technology to develop new pathogens. However, the most immediate danger is the rapid, prolific spread of mis- and disinformation due to AI chatbots and deepfakes.
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“Without facts, there is no truth. Without truth, there is no trust. And without these, the radical collaboration this moment demands is impossible,” said Maria Ressa, co-founder and CEO of Rappler and 2021 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.
“We are living through an information Armageddon — the crisis beneath all crises — driven by extractive and predatory technology that spreads lies faster than facts and profits from our division. We cannot solve problems we cannot agree exist. We cannot cooperate across borders when we cannot even share the same facts. Nuclear threats, climate collapse, AI risks: none can be addressed without first rebuilding our shared reality.”
The Bulletin has attempted to mitigate the doom, making a few recommendations about what could be done to push the Clock back. These primarily involve the U.S. engaging in reasonable dialogue with other countries, establishing international guidelines for nuclear arsenals and technological development. They also call for Congress to “repudiate President Trump’s war on renewable energy,” and incentivise a reduction in fossil fuel use. Unfortunately, as the situation currently stands, this seems unlikely to happen.
What is the Doomsday Clock?
Established by the non-profit Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in 1947, the Doomsday Clock is a symbol indicating how close we are to a global apocalypse caused by humans. Said disaster is represented by midnight on the Doomsday Clock, with the likelihood of such a catastrophe increasing as it draws closer.
The Doomsday Clock is set by the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board, determined each year in consultation with its Board of Sponsors. Though nuclear weapons were its primary concern when the Clock was created, the Board now also takes into account other developments such as climate change, disruptive technologies, and biological threats.
Initially set at seven minutes to midnight, the Doomsday Clock has moved forward and back depending upon global events. The furthest from midnight it has ever been is 17 minutes, which was set in 1991 after the U.S. and Soviet Union signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty amidst the end of the Cold War.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was founded in late 1945 following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
