Humanity continues to inch closer to self-destruction, according to Atomic scientists, who on Tuesday set the 2026 “Doomsday Clock” to 85 seconds to midnight, citing a worldwide “failure of leadership.”
It marks the closest point the human race has come to self-annihilation since the metaphorical clock made its debut nearly 80 years ago. The concept was created by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in 1947 during the Cold War — amid the nuclear arms race between the United States and Russia — to track how humans are destroying their own world with new technologies, nuclear weapons and even climate change.
“Humanity has not made sufficient progress on the existential risks that endanger us all,” said Alexandra Bell, president and CEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
“Every second counts, and we are running out of time,” Bell added.
Last year, the clock advanced to 89 seconds to midnight, with midnight representing the moment at which people will have rendered the Earth uninhabitable. Since then, “hard-won global understandings are collapsing, accelerating a winner-takes-all great power competition and undermining the international cooperation” required to reduce existential risks, scientists said. They emphasized a lack of international trust and cooperation would be detrimental to the human race.
Daniel Holz, chair of the group’s science and security board, warned that “if the world splinters into an us-versus-them, zero-sum approach, it increases the likelihood that we all lose.”
Scientists also expressed concern about weather events — including droughts, heat waves and floods — linked to global warming and the minimal efforts being made to combat climate change. They specifically called out President Trump for his efforts to boost fossil fuels and cripple renewable energy production.
With News Wire Services
