Overview
- The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set the symbolic gauge at 85 seconds to midnight, four seconds closer than last year and the nearest point since the clock began in 1947.
- The board cited heightened nuclear dangers in 2025, including the Russia–Ukraine war with nuclear saber‑rattling, U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian sites, China’s expanding arsenal, North Korean missile tests, and rising India–Pakistan tensions.
- Scientists warned that a proposed U.S. space‑based missile defense known as the Golden Dome could accelerate a space‑based arms race.
- Intensifying climate impacts, such as a deadly European heatwave, were flagged alongside concerns about AI and biosecurity advances and the threat‑multiplying effect of disinformation.
- Officials stressed the clock is a warning symbol rather than a countdown and urged urgent international cooperation to reverse these trends.