The Doomsday Clock Is Now 85 Seconds to Midnight. Here’s What That Means

The Doomsday Clock

The Doomsday Clock was created in 1947, during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. It is, in essence, a symbolic representation of how close humanity is to the destruction of the world, with midnight symbolizing the moment when humanity will have rendered the Earth uninhabitable. Last year, the hands were moved to 89 seconds to midnight, from the 90 seconds set in 2023 and 2024, due to insufficient progress in addressing or regulating global challenges like nuclear risk, the climate crisis, biological threats, disruptive technologies, and disinformation. “Every second of delay in reversing course,” SABS members reported, “increases the likelihood of a global disaster.”

Even Closer to Midnight

Instead of heeding this warning, however, the United States, Russia, China, and other major countries have become even more aggressive and nationalistic this year. “The dangerous trends in nuclear risk, climate change, disruptive technologies like AI, and biosecurity are accompanied by another frightening development: the rise of nationalistic autocracies in countries around the world,” said SABS president Daniel Holz in a statement. “Our greatest challenges require international trust and cooperation, and a world splintering into ‘us versus them’ will leave all of humanity more vulnerable.”

Time Is Running Out

As global threats worsen, the SABS report highlights a lack of leadership. “Hard-won global understandings are collapsing, accelerating a winner-takes-all great power competition and undermining the international cooperation critical to reducing the risks of nuclear war, climate change, the misuse of biotechnology, the potential threat of artificial intelligence, and other apocalyptic dangers,” the organization explained in a press release. “Far too many leaders have grown complacent and indifferent, in many cases adopting rhetoric and policies that accelerate rather than mitigate these existential risks.”

The Seconds That Remain

While it is a reminder of the world’s vulnerability as it nears the point of no return, the Doomsday Clock also symbolizes that there is still time to act, to pull humanity back from the brink. The United States and Russia, for example, could resume discussions on limiting their nuclear arsenals, while through multilateral agreements and national regulations, appropriate measures can be taken to reduce the possibility of artificial intelligence being used to create biological threats. The US Congress could provide incentives and investments that enable a rapid reduction in the use of fossil fuels, while the United States, Russia, and China could initiate talks to develop guidelines on integrating artificial intelligence into their militaries, particularly nuclear command and control systems.

“National leaders, particularly those of the United States, Russia, and China, must take the lead in finding a way out of the abyss,” the experts concluded. “Citizens must insist that they do so.”

This story was originally published in WIRED Italia and has been translated from Italian.