Doomsday clock ticks down, closest ever to "global catastrophe"

The Doomsday clock was set at 89 seconds to midnight on Tuesday morning, putting it the closest the world has ever been to what scientists deem is "global catastrophe."

The decades-old international symbol, described by the University of Chicago-based nonprofit the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists as a metaphor that shows how close the planet is to reaching "human extinction," is set every year. In January 2024, the clock was set at 90 seconds to midnight, the same as it was in 2023. This is the first time the clock has moved forward since 2023.

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists tracks man-made threats and focuses on three main hazard areas — nuclear risk, climate change and disruptive technologies — to determine the clock's placement. The clock's position this year was set based on "nuclear weapons threats, the climate crisis, biological threats, and disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence," according to a press release from the Bulletin.

"We set the clock closer to midnight because we do not see sufficient positive progress on the global challenges we face, including nuclear risk, climate change, biological threats and advances in disruptive technologies," said Daniel Holz, the chair of the Bulletin's Science and Security Board, which sets the clock, in a news conference Thursday.

Special guest Juan Manuel Santos, former president of Colombia and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, emphasized that the clock's forward movement could be stopped, but only if world leaders worked together. He highlighted President Trump's vow to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and the World Health Organization as steps in the wrong direction.

"We can only succeed if we act as one," Santos said.

Other board members pointed to growing nuclear capabilities, proposals to integrate artificial intelligence into military functions, and disinformation online as major man-made threats.

"The 2025 Clock time signals that the world is on a course of unprecedented risk, and that continuing on the current path is a form of madness," the Bulletin said. "The United States, China, and Russia have the prime responsibility to pull the world back from the brink. The world depends on immediate action."

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was founded in 1945 by Albert Einstein, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and University of Chicago scientists who helped develop the first atomic weapons in the Manhattan Project. The Bulletin created the Doomsday Clock two years later to convey man-made threats to human existence and the planet. The Clock has become a universally recognized indicator of the world's vulnerability to global catastrophe.

The Science and Security Board, made up of scientists, nuclear technology and climate science experts, and members of organization's sponsoring board, meets twice a year to "discuss world events and reset the clock as necessary," according to its website.

The Doomsday clock was established in 1947, according to the Bulletin's website, by scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project. Then, the rise of nuclear weapons technology was believed to be the world's greatest threat, with early versions of the clock warning of the risk of the arms race between the U.S. and Soviet Union. Since 2007, climate change has been a leading concern that determines the placement of the clock.

The clock was initially set at seven minutes to midnight and has moved 25 times since then. It can move backwards and forwards, with movement away from midnight showing that people can make positive change. The hands were furthest from midnight in 1991, following the end of the Cold War, according to the Bulletin.

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