At 89 seconds to midnight, the hand of the Doomsday Clock is the closest it’s ever been to catastrophe. In response, experts and campaigners call on world leaders to engage in concentrated efforts to step back from the precipice.

Set at 90 seconds in 2023 and 2024, the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists cited the following reasons for moving the clock one second closer to human-made catastrophe:

Nuclear: Nuclear-armed powers have spent billions of dollars on modernising and increasing their nuclear arsenals at a time amid a growing disregard of disarmament treaties, such as the New START which is set to expire next year.

Climate: While there has been an increase in the adoption of renewable technologies, it has not been enough to limit the pace of global warming – with record temperatures reached in 2024 and 2025.

Disruptive technologies: There has been increased tensions between the US, Russia, and China over the race to dominate space – an effort that has seen a rapid growth in participation and influence from the private sector. There has been a growth in Artificial Intelligence used in military technologies and the Board expressed concern at the growth in automated warfare when countries have access to over 12,000 nuclear weapons. Governmental regulation of AI technologies has failed to keep pace with developments.

Health: Public health systems have not fully recovered from Covid-19 pandemic, with a new strain of avian flu a cause for concern.

Speaking after the announcement, Juan Manuel Santos, Chair of The Elders, former President of Colombia, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate called on countries to make “concentrated efforts” in order to push the clock back over the next years, including signing up to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons – of which half the world’s population is now covered.

The announcement comes as polling by You Gov, found that 62% of the British public think that nuclear war would be the most likely cause of human extinction – an increase of 19% since 2022.

CND General Secretary Sophie Bolt said:

“Today’s announcement that the hand of the Doomsday clock has again moved closer to midnight shows what we all feel and know. People of all ages are terrified that nuclear war is going to destroy us. Governments across the world need to step back from the brink. The British government’s military escalation in Ukraine has increased the risks of a nuclear war. Its silence to news that US nuclear weapons may well now be based in Britain is shocking, given the target this now places on all of us. As living standards continue to drop in order to pay for greater military spending, we call on everyone who cares about peace and the planet to join us in doing everything they can to halt the nuclear dangers in Britain and across the world.”