In a sobering announcement marking heightened global instability, the symbolic Doomsday Clock has been adjusted to 85 seconds before midnight—the closest it has ever been to representing total planetary catastrophe. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the organization behind the clock, cited escalating nuclear threats, climate inaction, and the corrosive spread of disinformation as primary drivers of this alarming shift.
The decision, made following consultations with experts including eight Nobel laureates, reflects a world where major powers like Russia, China, and the United States have grown increasingly adversarial and nationalistic. A statement released with the update warned that ‘hard-won global understandings are collapsing,’ accelerating great-power competition and undermining international cooperation on critical risks including nuclear war, climate change, and the misuse of emerging technologies.
Key factors influencing the move include the impending expiration of the New START nuclear arms treaty between the U.S. and Russia, alongside the Trump administration’s push for a space-based missile defense system dubbed ‘Golden Dome.’ The board also highlighted record-breaking carbon emissions following a sharp reversal of U.S. climate policy and backtracking by other nations.
Adding to the crisis, the bulletin pointed to an ‘information Armageddon’—a collapse of public trust fueled by predatory technology that spreads falsehoods and profits from societal division, as noted by Nobel Prize-winning journalist Maria Ressa.
Founded in 1947 by Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer, the Doomsday Clock began at seven minutes to midnight. This year’s four-second advance follows a one-second move last year, erasing earlier guarded optimism about diplomatic engagement under Trump’s second term.