“Humanity on Edge: Doomsday Clock Inches Toward Midnight Over Nukes, Climate, and AI”

Earth is now closer than ever to catastrophe, according to a leading science advocacy group

As global tensions rise among nuclear powers like Russia, China, and the US. On Tuesday, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved its “Doomsday Clock” to 85 seconds to midnight, warning of growing risks from nuclear war, climate change, biotechnology misuse, and unchecked artificial intelligence.

The scientists first demonstrated the update last Friday before making it official on Tuesday. Last year, the clock was set at 89 seconds to midnight.

“Hard-won global agreements are collapsing, accelerating a winner-takes-all competition among great powers and undermining the international cooperation needed to reduce existential risks,” the group said.

They highlighted threats of escalating conflicts among nuclear-armed nations, citing the Russia-Ukraine war, May’s conflict between India and Pakistan, and concerns over Iran’s nuclear ambitions after US and Israeli strikes last year.

Daniel Holz, chair of the group’s science and security board, stressed the need for global trust: “If the world splinters into an us-versus-them, zero-sum approach, it increases the likelihood that we all lose.”

The group also warned of intensifying climate disasters—droughts, heat waves, and floods—and criticized failures to adopt meaningful global agreements to combat warming, singling out former US President Donald Trump’s policies favoring fossil fuels over renewable energy.

Since its creation in 1947, the Doomsday Clock has symbolized humanity’s proximity to self-destruction. At the end of the Cold War, it was 17 minutes to midnight. In recent years, reflecting rapid global change, the clock has shifted from minutes to counting down the seconds.

The Bulletin says the clock could be turned back if nations cooperate to address existential threats.