Atomic Scientists Warns of Close Global Catastrophe
The group announced on Tuesday that it has shifted its symbolic Doomsday Clock to 85 seconds before midnight, advancing it by five seconds to reflect what it views as an escalating level of global risk. The clock’s position is reassessed annually each January.
According to the assessment, the latest change was driven by what were described as “increasingly aggressive, adversarial, and nationalistic” policies adopted by major powers, which have transformed geopolitical rivalry into a “full-blown arms race.” Ongoing conflicts involving nuclear-armed states were also cited as continuing “negative trends” over the past year, including the war in Ukraine and military actions by the US and Israel against Iran, which were identified as major sources of instability.
The scientists also raised concerns over US plans to pursue the Golden Dome missile defense system promoted by President Donald Trump, warning that such efforts could trigger a new “space-based arms race.” In addition, they cautioned that the Russian-American New START Treaty is nearing expiration, which would leave the two countries without any remaining arms control framework, and urged both sides to “resume dialogue about limiting their nuclear arsenals.”
Beyond security risks, the group argued that the global reaction to the “climate emergency” has deteriorated from being “wholly insufficient to profoundly destructive,” accusing the Trump administration of declaring “war on renewable energy.”
The report also highlighted less conventional but potentially devastating threats, including “mirror life” — laboratory-created cells built from synthetic molecules that mirror those found in nature. Such organisms, the scientists warned, could spiral out of control, eliminating humanity and “disrupting all life on Earth.”
Artificial intelligence was identified as posing “a different sort of biological threat,” with concerns that advanced systems could be used to engineer new bacteria and viruses.
In recent years, the clock has been adjusted multiple times to reflect rising danger, moving forward by ten seconds in 2023 and by just one second in 2025, underscoring what scientists see as a steadily worsening global outlook.
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