Humanity is closer than ever to the end of the world – 85 seconds, to be exact.
Scientists pushed the hands of the Doomsday Clock, which predicts how close humanity is to extinction, by four seconds today.
If this metaphorical timepiece strikes midnight, it means humankind has failed to prevent Armageddon – think nuclear war or climate change.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists revealed how close we are to the stroke of doom at a 3pm announcement from Washington DC.
Experts said that while deciding how far to move the clock is often tricky, they had ‘no such challenges this year’.
The bulletin’s CEO, Alexandra Bell, said: ‘Every second counts and we’re running out of time.’
Threats of nuclear war and worsening climate change and new tech like unregulated AI tools ‘all ‘pose a threat to the survival of humanity’.
‘Overall, 2025 has been a pretty bleak picture in terms of advancing existential risks,’ a bulleting member added.
The clock has been ticking ever closer to midnight in recent years, from 90 seconds to midnight for 2023 to 89 seconds to midnight last year.
This is a far cry from when the clock was farthest from midnight in 1991, after the US and the Soviet Union agreed to reduce their nuclear stockpiles.
In response, the bulletin shifted the hands to 17 minutes to midnight.
Why has the Doomsday Clock changed?
A lot, however, has changed in the 35 years since – fears are high that World War Three could break out amid bloody and years-long wars.
The US and Iran have been sparring over the Islamic Republic’s deadly crackdown on anti-regime demonstrations.
Only last Saturday, Tehran warned that an attack from Washington would lead to an ‘all-out war’.
How close have we come to the end of the world?
Year: Minute to midnight
2025: 1.29
2023: 1.5
2020: 1.67
2018: Two
2017: 2.5
2015: Three
2012: Five
2010: Six
2007: Five
2002: Seven
1998: Nine
1995: 14
1991: 17
1990: 10
1988: Six
1984: Three
1981: Four
1980: Seven
1974: Nine
1972: 12
1969: 10
1968: Seven
1963: 12
1960: Seven
1953: Two
1949: Three
1947: Seven
Donald Trump, meanwhile, has been sparking fears that Nato – an alliance of Western nations – could be torn apart by his quest to seize Greenland.
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The icy, rocky island home to only 55,000 people is a Danish territory, yet the White House says it wants to annexe it ‘whether they like it or not’.
The past year also saw the eruption of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza following the deaths of 1,100 Israelis on October 7, 2023.
Since the start of Israel’s counter-offensive, at least 71,000 Palestinians have been killed and some 171,000 injured, mostly women and children.
While a fragile ceasefire paused the Israel-Hamas conflict in October, Russia’s war against Ukraine shows no signs of ending anytime soon.
The bulletin has said time and time again that a single ‘rash decision’ or accident could make the years-long war a nuclear one.
Humanity’s reliance on fossil fuels has continued to upend the world, the bulletin added.
Climate change worsened, among other things, last January’s deadly wildfires in California, the summer’s deadly heatwaves in Europe and the powerful hurricane that devastated Jamaica in October.
Biological threats, such as the coronavirus and bird flu, and the responses to them by officials, have also been cited by the bulletin as factors.
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