On January 28, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Science and Security Board will announce the 2025 setting of the Doomsday Clock in Washington, D.C.
The decision will reflect an assessment of multiple global threats, including the ongoing proliferation of nuclear weapons, advancements in disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, and the escalating conflicts around the world.
Among the key factors the panel will consider are the Russia-Ukraine war, the Israel-Hamas conflict, and tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, as well as the growing risks posed by bio-threats.
Since the first Trump administration left the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—also known as the Iran nuclear deal—in May 2018, Iran has significantly shortened the amount of time needed to produce enough weapons-grade highly enriched uranium to build a nuclear weapon to mere days.
The climate crisis, which continues to worsen, will also be a significant consideration in the Doomsday Clock’s setting.
The members of the Science and Security Board have been deeply worried about the deteriorating state of the world.
That is why they set the Doomsday Clock at two minutes to midnight in 2019 and at 100 seconds to midnight in 2022, then expressed heightened concern by moving the Clock to 90 seconds to midnight in 2023—the closest to global catastrophe it has ever been—in large part because of Russian threats to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
The Doomsday Clock, a symbol created in 1947 to represent the proximity of humanity to global catastrophe, serves as a stark reminder of the existential risks facing the planet.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists regularly revises the Clock’s time based on its evaluation of global security conditions.
The 2025 update will provide a gauge for the world’s increasing or decreasing vulnerability to catastrophic events, with a focus on the intersection of nuclear weapons, geopolitical instability, and environmental threats.
For those interested in the announcement and the ongoing analysis of global security, the Bulletin offers email updates and a twice-weekly newsletter that covers issues influencing the Doomsday Clock’s setting.
Founded in 1945 by Albert Einstein, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and University of Chicago scientists who helped develop the first atomic weapons in the Manhattan Project, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists created the Doomsday Clock two years later, using the imagery of apocalypse (midnight) and the contemporary idiom of nuclear explosion (countdown to zero) to convey threats to humanity and the planet.