The Doomsday Clock has been reset at 90 seconds to midnight, marking the second closest the clock has ever come to “apocalypse,” reflecting the ongoing state of unprecedented danger facing the world, including war, climate change, the threat of nuclear bombs, and even artificial intelligence.
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, administrators of the Doomsday Clock, emphasized in their announcement that the Clock could be turned back, but for this to happen, urgent action is needed by governments and individuals.
A range of global threats cast ominous shadows over the deliberations of Clock 2024, including: the war between Russia and Ukraine and the deterioration of nuclear arms reduction agreements; the climate crisis and the official designation of 2023 as the hottest year on record; the increasing sophistication of genetic engineering technologies; and the dramatic advance of generative AI, which could magnify disinformation and corrupt the global information environment, making it harder to solve the most important existential challenges.
“Make no mistake: resetting the clock to 90 seconds to midnight is not an indication that the world is stable. Quite the contrary. There is an urgent need for governments and communities around the world to act. And the Bulletin maintains hope (and inspiration) by looking to younger generations leading the charge,” said Dr. Rachel Bronson, president and CEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
The time on the Doomsday Clock is set by the Atomic Scientists Science and Safety Bulletin Board (SASB) in consultation with its Board of Sponsors, which includes nine Nobel laureates. Previously, in January 2023, the Doomsday Clock was set at 90 seconds to midnight, the closest to midnight the Clock had ever been.
“Ominous trends continue to point the world toward global catastrophe. The war in Ukraine and the widespread and growing reliance on nuclear weapons increase the risk of nuclear escalation. China, Russia, and the United States are spending vast sums of money to expand or modernize their nuclear arsenals, heightening the ever-present danger of nuclear war by mistake or miscalculation,” the Doomsday Clock statement said.
In 2023, the Earth experienced the hottest year on record, and massive floods, wildfires and other climate-related disasters affected millions of people around the world. Meanwhile, worryingly rapid advances in life sciences and other disruptive technologies accelerated, while governments made only feeble efforts to control them. “But the world can be safer. The Clock can move away from midnight,” he details.
For Jerry Brown, executive president of the Bulletin, “As if on the Titanic, leaders are steering the world toward catastrophe: more nuclear bombs, massive carbon emissions, dangerous pathogens and artificial intelligence. Only great powers like China, the United States and Russia can turn us back. Despite deep antagonisms, they must cooperate… or we are doomed.”
Bill Nye, who participated in the announcement of the 2024 Doomsday Clock, said: “For decades, scientists have been warning us about the dangers facing humanity. We could face catastrophe unless we better manage the technologies we have created. It is time to act.”
Turn back the clock
Everyone on Earth has an interest in reducing the likelihood of global catastrophe caused by nuclear weapons, climate change, advances in life sciences, disruptive technologies, and widespread corruption of the global information ecosystem. For the Bulletin's members, turning back the clock requires, as a first step, and despite their profound disagreements, that three of the world's major powers (the United States, China, and Russia) begin a serious dialogue on each of the global threats described here.
At the highest levels, they said, these three countries must take responsibility for the existential danger facing the world now. “They have the ability to pull the world back from the brink of catastrophe. They must do so clearly and boldly and without delay,” they warned.
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 imagery of the apocalypse (midnight) and the contemporary language of nuclear explosion (countdown to zero) to convey threats to humanity and the planet.
The Doomsday Clock is set each year by the Bulletin's Science and Security Board in consultation with its Board of Sponsors, which includes nine Nobel laureates. The Clock has become a universally recognized indicator of the world's vulnerability to global catastrophe caused by man-made technologies.
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