‘Doomsday Clock’ signals existential threats of nuclear war, climate disasters and AI

WASHINGTON — Earth is approaching apocalypse for the second year in a row, a science-oriented advocacy group said, pointing to the famous “Doomsday Clock” that marks 90 seconds to midnight.

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists made its annual announcement Tuesday assessing how close humanity is to the end. It cited the nuclear threat in Russia’s war against Ukraine, as well as the October 7 attack in Israel and the war in Gaza, which exacerbated climate-related disasters and the danger of generative artificial intelligence.

“Last year we raised our concerns by moving the clock to 90 seconds to midnight, the closest we’ve ever been to a global catastrophe,” said Rachel Bronson, CEO of the Bulletin Group. “Last year’s risks remain as true and continue to take shape this year.”

Beginning in 1947, the advocacy group used a clock to symbolize the potential and even likelihood that humans would do something to end humanity. After the end of the Cold War, it was less than 17 minutes to midnight. To cope with rapid global change, the group has switched in recent years from counting down the minutes until midnight to counting down the seconds.

The group said the clock can be turned back if leaders and nations work together, and specifically pointed to powerful countries with the capacity to do so, including the United States, China and Russia.