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In January 2025, the Doomsday Clock was set to 89 seconds to midnight, the closest position to catastrophe since its creation in 1947. Since the world was already on the brink, this advance of just one second compared to the previous year should be interpreted as a sign of extreme danger and a clear warning that every moment of inaction increases the likelihood of an irreversible global disaster.

What moves the hand?

Originally, the position of the hand was determined based on political and social conflicts, but since 2007 the threat of climate change has also been considered. In 2020, when the clock was set for the first time to less than two minutes to midnight, two new threats were included: the risk of a pandemic and the spread of fake news. In the most recent assessment, the risk associated with artificial intelligence has been added, both for its potential in creating biological weapons and for its possible involvement in military decisions.

The world prepares for an uncertain future

The probability of a nuclear war has never been higher. A rash decision, an accident, or a miscalculation could turn the Russian-Ukrainian conflict or the Middle East conflict into a broader war. The world’s major military powers are aware of this, expanding and strengthening their arsenals and investing billions of U.S. dollars in weapons capable of destroying civilization. This is happening while the arms control process is collapsing and the trend of non-nuclear countries considering developing their own arsenals is increasing.