'89 seconds': Doomsday Clock moves closest ever to midnight following Trump’s return

The "

doomsday clock

," which represents how close humanity is to

global disaster

, moved one second closer to midnight on Tuesday. This comes as concerns over nuclear war,

climate change

, and public health have increased since US President Donald Trump began his second term.
The

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

, which created the clock during the Cold War, set the time at 89 seconds to midnight. This is the closest it has ever been. The last change was in 2022, when the clock was set to 90 seconds to midnight after Russia invaded Ukraine. The clock was originally set at seven minutes to midnight in 1947.
"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," the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists said in a statement.

Factors included nuclear weapons threats, the climate crisis, biological threats, and disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence (AI).
It said, "The United States, China, and Russia have the prime responsibility to pull the world back from the brink. The world depends on immediate action."
"At 89 seconds to midnight, the doomsday clock stands closer to catastrophe than at any moment in its history," said Juan Manuel Santos, former president of Colombia and chair of The Elders, a group of former world leaders.
"The clock speaks to the existential threats that confront us and the need for unity and bold leadership to turn back its hands," he said at a news conference in Washington.
"This is a bleak picture. But it is not yet irreversible," he added.

What is Doomsday Clock?

The Doomsday Clock is a symbol that measures how close humanity is to global destruction due to dangerous technologies. It shows the time remaining until "midnight," representing disaster. The clock is adjusted each year by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists to alert the public and encourage action.
When it was first introduced in 1947, the clock's time was based on the threat of nuclear weapons, which Bulletin scientists saw as the biggest risk to humanity. In 2007, the Bulletin also began considering the impact of climate change when setting the clock.
The clock was set the furthest from midnight in 1991, at 17 minutes, following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the signing of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.
Concerns over Global issues
A few days into his second term, Trump has already changed the approach to international cooperation.
Santos welcomed Trump’s commitment to diplomacy with Russia and China. Trump has promised to end the Ukraine war by negotiating with both sides, which could ease concerns about the use of nuclear weapons.
However, Santos pointed out that the US withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement and the World Health Organization had increased global risks.
The world has faced another year of extreme temperatures and natural disasters. Santos warned that other countries might follow the US in reducing climate efforts. "If the United States, the world's largest economy, is not going to make an effort to limit the carbon emissions, why should I?" he said.
Santos also mentioned the fading public memory of Covid-19 and its effects. "We have to remind them what happened -- and what will happen will be worse, according to all the scientists," he said.
AI: Risks and potential benefits
Public health expert Suzet McKinney, a member of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists board, warned that artificial intelligence could increase the risk of biological weapons.
"As nation-states around the world and even our own government engage in practices that are sure to encourage rogue behavior and/or cripple our ability to curb the spread of infectious diseases, novel or otherwise, we cannot hide our heads in the sand," she said.
Physicist Robert Socolow, who is also on the board, said the recent development of the Chinese intelligence firm DeepSeek could reduce energy consumption in AI technology. He compared the breakthrough to past progress in semiconductor chips that made computing more efficient.
However, experts also cautioned that artificial intelligence could make misinformation worse.
"All of these dangers are greatly exacerbated by a potent threat multiplier -- the spread of misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories that degrade the communication ecosystem and increasingly blur the line between truth and falsehood," said Daniel Holz, chair of the board.