What is the Doomsday Clock and how it works? What we know as scientists warn clock creeping closer to global catastrophe

The science that guides the Doomsday Clock, which represents how close humanity is to global catastrophe, has been moved to 89 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever been.

This annual Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) report is a dire warning about the growing danger of nuclear threats, climate change, artificial intelligence, and misinformation.

The Doomsday Clock was originally developed in 1947 by scientists who had worked on the Manhattan Project, the secret U.S. program that produced the first nuclear weapons.

Fearing the existential threat of nuclear war, these scientists founded the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) to raise public awareness of the dangers of nuclear proliferation. To symbolize these dangers, artist Martyl Langsdorf created the now-famed clock, which would be originally set at seven minutes until midnight.

Over the years, the Bulletin widened its scope to include such existential threats as climate change, biological hazards, artificial intelligence and the spread of misinformation.

Midnight on the Clock embodies a worldwide disaster, and the number of minutes or seconds to midnight reflects how far to the point of no return humanity has reached. Every year, the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board a group of experts in nuclear science, climate policy, and global security assesses current global threats.

According to Daniel Holz, chairman of the Science and Security Board, the doomsday clock has now been moved forward to 89 seconds to midnight indicating the occurrence of a bad global disaster.

More about the factors influencing the 2025 Doomsday Clock update

The Ukraine war, now nearing its third year, has reportedly increased the risk of nuclear escalation. Tensions among nuclear-armed nations, including the U.S., Russia, and China, have also surged, as arms control treaties have fallen apart.

Climate impacts such as rising temperatures and increasingly severe weather events, coupled with an increase in dependence on fossil fuels, offer a grim long-term outlook.

The Bulletin noted that without immediate action on climate change, ecosystems would have trouble keeping up, and if the same pattern continued we would be looking at irreversible damage to ecosystems and human societies.

On the other hand, the fast advancement of artificial intelligence, especially for military use, presents new dangers. Autonomous weapons and AI-based decision-making systems may make war easier, therefore influencing the Doomsday Clock.

The Bulletin stressed the issue of the spread of misinformation, stating that it has the potential to not only excite political instability but also decrease the efforts to tackle urgent global challenges.

The minute hand on the Doomsday Clock has been moved back in the past. It had been furthest from midnight in 1991, indicating 17 minutes after the end of the Cold War and the signing of nuclear arms reduction treaties.