By Tim Binnall
The 2026 update to the infamous Doomsday Clock, a metaphorical measurement of catastrophic threats facing humanity, saw the symbolic assessment move a chilling four seconds closer to midnight, the most perilous determination to date. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS), which has overseen the warning system since 1947, announced its annual evaluation at an event on Tuesday. Musing that "the Doomsday Clock's message cannot be clearer," group president, Alexandra Bell, declared that "catastrophic risks are on the rise, cooperation is on the decline, and we are running out of time."
Noting that 2025's update had brought the measurement closer to midnight than ever before, the BAS lamented that the issues facing humanity then have only worsened over the last year, which prompted them to advance the clock even further to an unsettling 85 seconds to midnight. Explaining the reasoning behind their decision, the group pointed to geopolitical turmoil brought about by countries becoming "increasingly aggressive, adversarial, and nationalistic" with long-standing alliances faltering and "accelerating a winner-takes-all great power competition." In turn, the BAS observed, the cooperation needed to address the challenges facing the planet has taken a proverbial backseat to "rhetoric and policies that accelerate rather than mitigate these existential risks."
As in previous years, when the BAS announced its update to the Doomsday Clock, the group warned the world of the worsening proliferation of nuclear weapons and the potential that they could be used in the various conflicts unfolding around the world. Additionally, the organization continued sounding the alarm about climate change, the dangers of biological threats that could run amok, and the haphazard development and implementation of artificial intelligence. While the group stressed that the Doomsday Clock is meant to serve as "a symbol that there is still time left to act," one cannot help but feel particularly pessimistic about their outlook, as the 'device' has been ticking steadily closer to midnight since 2012, with fewer and fewer seconds left with each passing year.