Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
The world is closer to self-destruction than at any point in recorded history, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which on Tuesday moved its symbolic Doomsday Clock to just 85 seconds before midnight, the closest it has ever been.
The science-based advocacy group cited a convergence of escalating threats, including nuclear weapons, accelerating climate change, unchecked advances in artificial intelligence, and the potential misuse of biotechnology. The announcement marks a further deterioration from last year, when the clock stood at 89 seconds to midnight.
In its annual assessment, the Bulletin warned that major global powers including Russia, China, and the United States are becoming increasingly aggressive, adversarial, and nationalistic at a time when international cooperation is most urgently needed. The group said long-standing global agreements and norms are eroding, fueling a “winner-takes-all” geopolitical competition that undermines collective efforts to reduce existential risks.
Central to the warning is the growing danger of nuclear conflict. The Bulletin highlighted ongoing and recent tensions involving nuclear-armed states, including the war in Ukraine, renewed hostilities between India and Pakistan earlier this year, and concerns over Iran’s nuclear capabilities following U.S. and Israeli strikes last summer. According to the group, the combination of military escalation, weakened arms control frameworks, and declining diplomatic trust significantly raises the risk of miscalculation or unintended war.
Daniel Holz, chair of the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board, stressed that global cooperation is essential to avoid catastrophe. He warned that a fragmented world driven by zero-sum thinking makes collective failure more likely, rather than safeguarding national interests.
Beyond nuclear threats, the group emphasized the worsening impacts of climate change, pointing to increasingly frequent and severe droughts, heat waves, floods, and other extreme weather events. It criticized governments for failing to implement meaningful climate policies, singling out actions by US President Donald Trump to expand fossil fuel production while limiting renewable energy development, which the Bulletin said further weakens global climate commitments.
The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence also featured prominently in this year’s assessment. The Bulletin cautioned that AI technologies are being developed and deployed at unprecedented speed, often without adequate ethical frameworks, oversight, or international regulation. Combined with advances in biotechnology, these tools could be misused in ways that amplify existing threats or create entirely new forms of risk.
The Doomsday Clock was first introduced in 1947 as a visual metaphor to convey how close humanity is to self-inflicted annihilation. During the height of the Cold War, it fluctuated based on nuclear tensions, but following the collapse of the Soviet Union it moved as far back as 17 minutes to midnight. In recent years, however, accelerating global instability has led the Bulletin to shift from measuring minutes to seconds.
Despite the grim assessment, the group stressed that the clock is not a prediction but a warning. The Bulletin said the hands could still be turned back if world leaders take decisive action to reduce nuclear arsenals, address climate change, regulate emerging technologies, and rebuild international trust.
“The danger is real,” the group said, “but so is the opportunity to pull back from the brink, if nations choose cooperation over confrontation.”
