TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Humanity has edged closer to catastrophe than at any point in modern history, scientists warned on Tuesday, as the Doomsday Clock was moved to just 85 seconds to midnight. This stance is by far its most dire setting since the clock’s first appearance in 1947 as a measure of humanity’s risk of self-destruction.
What Is a Doomsday Clock?
Often cited as a symbolic gauge of humanity’s proximity to self-inflicted catastrophe, the Doomsday Clock is intended as both a warning and a call to action. For decades, the organization, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, urged global leaders to confront escalating human-made threats that continue to push the clock’s hands closer to midnight.
Each year, the Doomsday Clock is set by the organization’s Science and Security Board, which assesses whether humanity is safer or facing greater risk than the previous year. The panel also measures current threats against nearly eight decades of global crises since the clock’s introduction back in 1947.
What Does 85 Seconds to Midnight Mean for the 2026 Doomsday Clock?
The decision to move the Doomsday Clock closer to midnight was driven by mounting concerns over nuclear weapons, climate change, and biological threats, which the organization identified as the most severe risks facing humanity, as per US News.
This year’s adjustment places the clock four seconds nearer to catastrophe than its 2025 setting, underscoring what scientists described as a rapidly deteriorating global outlook.
Rising geopolitical tensions are compounding existing global threats, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists warned, pointing to an increasingly fractured international order alongside escalating nuclear, climate, technological and biological risks, as cited from Al Jazeera.
Daniel Holz, a professor at the University of Chicago and chair of the organization’s Science and Security Board, said the growing dominance of nationalistic autocracies has made the world more dangerous at a moment when cooperation is most urgently needed.
“Our greatest challenges require international trust and cooperation,” Holz said in a statement, cautioning that a world divided along “us versus them” lines leaves humanity more exposed to catastrophe.
The bulletin noted that it had issued similar warnings a year earlier, saying the world was already “perilously close to global disaster” and that continued delays in changing course only increase the likelihood of irreversible consequences.
In outlining its latest decision, the organization raised alarm over what it described as increasingly aggressive, adversarial and nationalistic postures adopted by major powers, including Russia, China and the United States. It warned that long-standing global agreements are unraveling, replaced by an intensifying, winner-takes-all competition for dominance.
The assessment also pointed to a series of conflicts in 2025 as evidence of this destabilizing trend, citing Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, the outbreak of clashes between India and Pakistan in May, and US and Israeli attacks on Iran in June.
AI Is Pushing Doomsday Clock Closer to Midnight
Holz also flagged the growing risks posed by artificial intelligence, warning that a rapidly accelerating race to develop the technology could trigger serious and unintended consequences, as reported by CBS News.
Describing AI as a powerful disruptive force, he said it is increasingly amplifying misinformation and disinformation, further complicating efforts to confront the wider range of global threats already pushing the Doomsday Clock closer to midnight.
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