The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has moved the Doomsday Clock to just 85 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever been since its creation in 1945, warning that humanity is now living in a time of “unprecedented danger.”
The decision reflects escalating global instability, with the war in Ukraine cited as a key driver, particularly the ongoing weaponisation of nuclear power. The Clock had been set at 89 seconds to midnight in 2023 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the war in Gaza, but scientists now warn that the risk of an existential catastrophe has intensified further, by adjusting the clock by 4 ‘seconds’.
Founded by Albert Einstein and scientists from the University of Chicago who helped develop the world’s first atomic weapons, the Doomsday Clock is a universally recognised symbol of humanity’s vulnerability to nuclear conflict, climate breakdown, and disruptive technologies. The closer the Clock moves to midnight, the greater the threat to human survival.
Reacting to the announcement, Adi Roche, Voluntary CEO of Chernobyl Children International (CCI), expressed deep alarm at the deteriorating nuclear safety situation in Ukraine, particularly the drone attack on Chornobyl last February and the continued occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
“The Doomsday Clock is a diagnosis of our reality. It must serve as both a wake-up call and a call to action for real, true peace. With the ongoing occupation and escalating nuclear crisis, the world is on a knife-edge. The risk of a nuclear disaster, whether by accident or by design, is dangerously high. We are standing on the precipice of a humanitarian armageddon.”
Roche also highlighted the looming 40th Anniversary of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster this April as a grim and timely reminder of what is at stake.
“As we approach forty years since Chornobyl, the world should remember that nuclear catastrophe is not theoretical… it is lived reality for millions. Chornobyl is forever. What began at Chornobyl and continues today at Zaporizhzhia signals a terrifying shift in modern warfare. The weaponisation of nuclear power has changed the nature of conflict forever and casts a dark shadow over wars of the future.”
Calling on global leaders to act decisively, Roche urged renewed international leadership to reverse the trajectory toward catastrophe.
“If we remain silent, we are playing with a loaded gun. This moment must galvanise world leaders into urgent action. We must use the power of human intervention, diplomacy and moral leadership to turn the hands of the Doomsday Clock back from midnight.”
ENDS
