Doomsday Clock Moves One Second Closer To Midnight – Closest To It Has Ever Been In 78-Year History

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) announced that looming threats of nuclear war and climate change have influenced its decision to move the “Doomsday Clock” minute hand one second closer to midnight.

This symbolizes the closest to destruction that humanity has ever been in the clock’s 78-year existence. When the practice first began in 1947, the clock was set at seven minutes to midnight. It remained at 90 seconds for the entire duration of 2024.

The Bulletin’s Science and Security Board chair Daniel Holz said that this move signifies a “warning to all world leaders.”

“In setting the clock one second closer to midnight, we send a stark signal,” the Bulletin wrote in a statement. “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.”

The Bulletin also warned that the nearly three-year war in Ukraine “could become nuclear at any moment because of a rash decision or through accident or miscalculation” and the “conflict in the Middle East threatens to spiral out of control into a wider war without warning.” 

Additionally, the U.S.’s recent withdrawal from the World Health Organization and the Paris Agreement in executive orders signed by President Donald Trump on Jan. 20, are discouraging signs.

The statement also notes the threat of diseases and technological advancements that saw an overwhelming increase in the past year. The spread of misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories greatly multiply the dangers of these events, the Bulletin said, because they “degrade the communication ecosystem and increasingly blur the line between truth and falsehood.”

The BAS also mentioned the collective power of the U.S., China and Russia, saying that they have “the prime responsibility to pull the world back from the brink” because they ultimately have the “power to destroy civilization.”

The Bulletin calls for global cooperation to tackle the issues that threaten humanity. They hope that world leaders will take bold action to reduce the threats that climate change, nuclear weapons and the misuse of biological science and emerging technologies pose.

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