The world will soon learn how close it stands to the brink of disaster as scientists prepare to unveil the 2025 setting of the Doomsday Clock.
A symbolic measure of humanity’s distance from global catastrophe, the Doomsday Clock was created in 1947 by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Midnight represents apocalypse, and each annual update warns how near the world is to catastrophic events with no turning back. "It is a metaphor, a reminder of the perils we must address if we are to survive on the planet," the official website for the clock states.
The clock first appeared in the Bulletin’s debut magazine issue in June 1947. Over the decades, its ominous warnings have inspired some to take extreme steps, preparing for potential end-of-the-world scenarios.
2025 Announcement
Today, it was announced that the Doomsday Clock is now 89 seconds to Midnight - the closest it has ever been to Doomsday.
This time is one second closer to midnight than 2024, which remained in place from the time set in 2023.
Sharing reasons for the time, experts pointed towards 2024 being the "hottest year on record" and climate change is increasing. Additionally, they pointed to a "disturbing rhetoric" behind nuclear weapons.
Juan Manuel Santos - the Chair of The Elders, former President of Colombia, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate - also highlighted the growing risk of AI, and how its intelligence is beginning to overshadow that of humanity.
Emphasizing the "stark warning" behind today's announcement, Santos added: "At 89 seconds to midnight, the Doomsday Clock stands closer to catastrophe than at any moment in its history."
Over on TheBulletin.org, a statement from the board reads: "In setting the Clock one second closer to midnight, we send a stark signal: Because the world is already perilously close to the precipice, a move of even a single second should be taken as an indication of extreme danger and an unmistakable warning that every second of delay in reversing course increases the probability of global disaster."
How Does the Doomsday Clock Work?
The Clock’s minute hand reflects humanity’s proximity to disaster, inching closer or farther from midnight based on global risks.
It is adjusted yearly by the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board, in consultation with its Board of Sponsors, which includes nine Nobel laureates.
The decision factors in threats such as national security, climate change, nuclear danger, disruptive technologies, and biosecurity.
Speaking at today's announcement is Juan Manuel Santos, Daniel Holz, Herb Lin, Suzet McKinney, Manpreet Sethi, and Robert Socolow.
Why Is the Doomsday Clock Important?
The past year has seen significant global challenges, including the ongoing war in Ukraine, the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and widespread political upheaval during 2024’s record-breaking election year.
New global leaders, including US President Donald Trump, have also reshaped political landscapes.
These factors, among others, contribute to the scientists’ deliberations over the Clock’s placement for 2025.
What Happens if the Clock Reaches Midnight?
In 2023, the Clock was moved forward to 90 seconds to midnight, driven by concerns over the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the potential use of nuclear weapons. It marked the closest point to disaster since the Clock’s creation and remained in place for 2024.
In previous years, the minute hand has moved closer to midnight in response to escalating global tensions.
While it remained stagnant from 2019 to 2022, it was adjusted in 2018, moving forward by 30 seconds to two minutes before midnight.
The furthest away the minute hand has ever been to midnight was back in 1991, with the end of the Cold War. The United States and the Soviet Union had signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty -- the first treaty to provide for deep cuts to the two countries’ strategic nuclear weapons arsenals.
As such, the Bulletin set the clock hand to 17 minutes to midnight.
Of course, nothing literally will happen once the clock reaches midnight -- but it serves as a warning from some of our planet's greatest minds that humanity will have gone too far, and the damage we've caused is now irreversible and will result in our demise.
The Bulletin's CEO, Rachel Bronson, previously explained: "When the clock is at midnight, that means there's been some sort of nuclear exchange or catastrophic climate change that's wiped out humanity."