In a statement about the 2025 Doomsday Clock, the organization explained the dire circumstances that went into the decision. “In 2024, humanity edged ever closer to catastrophe.

Iconic Doomsday Clock moves one second closer to midnight as global existential threats rage. Clock factors include nuclear weapons, climate crisis, artificial intelligence, infectious diseases, and conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists shifted the hands of the symbolic clock to 89 seconds to midnight, citing the threat of climate change, nuclear war and the misuse of artificial intelligence.