What pushed Doomsday clock to 85 seconds to midnight in 2026?

The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic clock whose time is moved closer to or further from midnight to symbolise the likelihood of man-made destruction leading to global wreckage.

The Doomsday Clock was set to 85 seconds to midnight this week. This marks the closest it has ever been toa global catastrophe.

This is the third advancement in four years, with scientists cautioning that humanity is “running out of time” to avert existential disaster.

But the real question is what moved the clock forward?

Nuclear arms race escalation

The world is set to face the first uncontrolled nuclear arms race in over half a century as the major U.S.-Russia nuclear treaty is set to expire on February 5. The risk of deployment is further escalated by tensions in regions like Ukraine, the Middle East, and Asia.

Conflicts involving nuclear-armed states, including Ukraine, the Middle East, and rising tensions across Asia, have further heightened the risk of deployment.

Artificial intelligence turned dangerous

The unregulated integration of AI into military systems and its role in supercharging misinformation are also destabilizing forces. The Bulletin’s scientists warn that AI is exacerbating every other threat, including the spread of biological weapons research.

Climate inaction and extreme weather

Despite the vivid catastrophic impacts of climate change, there have been insufficient commitments regarding global carbon emissions and policies. Leaders have failed to deliver on climate financing and were unable to meet emissions targets by placing ecosystems in further jeopardy.

Nationalism and erosion of diplomacy

Chair of the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board, Daniel Holz, stated: “Major countries have become increasingly aggressive and nationalistic.”

The collapse of major treaties and the rise of information warfare are major examples of eroding diplomacy between states that have left the world without coordinated plans to address biological, nuclear, or technological threats.

Biological and Synthetic Risks

Synthetic biology is advancing without global oversight, potentially leading to biological threats. Combined with AI-enabled bioengineering, these technologies can be devastating, as ever imagined.

Bulletin CEO Alexandra Bell said: “The Doomsday Clock is a tool for communicating how close we are destroying the world with technologies of our own making. It is a hard truth but this is our reality.”