The doomsday clock was created by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in 1947, only two years after the end of World War II (WWII). Many of the founding members of the Bulletin worked on the Manhattan Project, which developed and created the first atomic bomb. The clock was created to represent how close humanity was to nuclear ruin, with midnight being the moment that Earth becomes uninhabitable. Although initially the clock only accounted for how close humanity was to nuclear catastrophe, the Bulletin began taking climate change into account in 2007 and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in 2024.
It was seven minutes to midnight when it was first created in 1947, and the farthest from midnight it has ever been was 17 minutes in 1991, when the Cold War between the U.S. and Russia ended. The conclusion of this war dramatically decreased the risk of nuclear weaponry being used, as Russia and the U.S. had—and still have—the largest arsenals of nuclear weapons.
Despite this leap away from atomic ruin in 1991, the doomsday clock has been getting closer and closer to midnight since 2010. This trend became the most concerning in 2020 when the clock was only 100 seconds away from midnight, which was the closest it had ever been. Since then, the clock has been steadily ticking closer and closer to midnight, being only 90 seconds away in 2023, 89 seconds in 2025, and now only 85 seconds in 2026.
While the clock was only pushed forward by four seconds, every second matters. The Bulletin explained this last year in the 2025 Doomsday Clock Statement as they stated that by moving the clock from 90 to 89 seconds they were sending a stark warning: “…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.” Despite this glaring, unignorable warning, global tensions rose as major military countries like the United States, Russia, and China became more aggressive, adversarial, and nationalistic.
The United States—one of the last remaining superpowers from WWII—has launched aerial attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities that were suspected of supporting Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions. It also built a plan to create the Golden Dome, a multilayered missile defense system that may begin a second space-based arms race, and the Trump administration has gutted national efforts to curb climate change, as it has ended numerous renewable energy projects.
The other remaining superpower, Russia, has continued its war against Ukraine using military tactics that allude to the future use of nuclear weapons, which is especially concerning as the last major agreement limiting the number of nuclear weapons deployed by Russia and the United States, New START, expired on Feb. 4. The ending of this agreement allows for both Russia and the United States to increase their nuclear activity.
Meanwhile, China has increased aggression, as the country has expanded its arsenal of nuclear warheads and platforms, while all three countries modernized their nuclear delivery systems. While these militaristic actions spark major concern around the world, the use of AI is also a root cause of concern. China, the United States, and Russia have begun to incorporate AI into their defense sectors, despite the technology’s instability and potential risks.
While global tensions are rising, there are numerous actions that could be taken to turn the clock back, as it has been a dozen times in the past. The U.S. and Russia can reach a new agreement on nuclear weaponry; the U.S. can focus on renewable energy and reduce the use of fossil fuels; and the international community can prevent the creation of mirror life and reduce the threat of AI creating biological threats.
