The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has reset the iconic Doomsday Clock to 89 seconds to midnight. For the second consecutive year, it is the closest the world has ever been to global catastrophe.

Created in 1947 by a group of researchers that included Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer (the “father” of the atomic bomb), the Clock symbolizes humanity’s proximity to self-destruction. It is updated annually by the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board in consultation with experts, including nine Nobel laureates.

In a statement outlining the change, the Board highlighted three main reasons for “moving the Doomsday Clock from 90 seconds to 89 seconds to midnight.” These include ongoing nuclear risks, accelerating climate disasters, and emerging biological and technological dangers.

Nuclear Perils and Widening Tensions

Nuclear weapons have always been at the forefront of concern. It’s the reason why the Doomsday Clock was constructed as a metaphor for close proximity to civilization-wide collapse in the first place. In the latest update, the Bulletin underscores the threat posed by modernized arsenals worldwide. The 2025 Doomsday Clock Statement notes that despite no single “calamitous new development” in the past year, “extremely dangerous trends continue.” Russia’s war in Ukraine, it warns, could escalate to nuclear conflict “at any moment because of a rash decision or through accident or miscalculation.”

After years of encouraging progress in hampering nuclear weapon proliferation, geopolitical tensions seem to bring us back into a paradigm of expanding weapons programs. North Korea seeks to “exponentially expand” its stockpile, while Iran is “one or two weeks away from producing enough highly enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon,” according to U.S. officials. Meanwhile, efforts to promote new arms control agreements have stalled. China proposed “a treaty on ‘mutual no-first-use of nuclear weapons’.” But the Bulletin reports that “these no-first-use overtures…received no response” from other nuclear-armed nations.

The United States, once a leader in arms control, “can no longer be counted on as a voice of caution or nuclear moderation.” The Board warns that a renewed push for weapons investment across multiple nuclear-armed states is driving “a worldwide nuclear arms race.”

Climate Pressures, Biological Risks, and Emerging Tech

Climate change is identified as the second pillar of alarm. “Major climate indicators showed 2023 to be the warmest year in the 174-year observational record,” the statement says. Extreme weather events in 2024 — from heat waves to floods — devastated communities, while global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. In the view of the Bulletin, progress toward clean energy is promising but insufficient to avert catastrophic warming.

Biological threats also loom. The Board points to the potential for highly pathogenic avian influenza to mutate further, risking a “serious possibility” of a new pandemic. Growing numbers of high-containment labs worldwide increase the chance of accidental or deliberate release of dangerous pathogens.

Disruptive technologies — including artificial intelligence — add another layer of uncertainty. Large language models and AI-driven military systems could influence nuclear decision-making. As the statement notes, “AI-enabled distortion of the information environment may be an important factor in preventing the world from dealing effectively with urgent major threats like nuclear war, pandemics, and climate change.”

Why 89 Seconds?

The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic timepiece created by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in 1947 to represent how close humanity is to global catastrophe, with midnight signifying total disaster. Originally focused on nuclear threats, the clock now accounts for other existential risks, including climate change, biological dangers, and disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence. Each year, the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board, in consultation with experts and Nobel laureates, evaluates world events and determines whether to move the clock’s hands forward, backward, or keep them unchanged. The closer the clock is to midnight, the greater the threat to humanity’s survival.

At 89 seconds to midnight, down from 90 seconds later year, the margin for error has never been narrower. The Bulletin states, “Because the world is already perilously close to the precipice, a move of even a single second should be taken as…an unmistakable warning.”

Why did they change it by just one second?
The Science and Security Board emphasizes that while threats are dire, they have not yet triggered an irreversible catastrophe. Their decision to move the Clock by one second reflects subtle but worrying trends, where diplomatic engagement on nuclear, climate, and biosecurity fronts continues to erode.

Who decides how the Clock moves?
The Bulletin’s Science and Security Board consults with sponsors, including Nobel Prize–winning scientists. They examine global events, scientific data, and geopolitical developments to form a consensus.

Ultimately, the message is stark: “Blindly continuing on the current path is a form of madness,” the Bulletin says. Whether through diplomacy, scientific collaboration, or policy reform, the Bulletin insists that urgent action is essential to pull the world back from the brink.

Even a single second counts.