Overview
- The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists unveiled the 2026 setting in a live-streamed briefing led by a seven-member panel that included Nobel laureate Maria Ressa and CEO Alexandra Bell.
- The new reading is four seconds closer than last year’s 89-second mark, marking the nearest point to midnight since the Clock’s creation.
- Scientists cited intensifying great‑power antagonism, the collapse of hard‑won international agreements and a wider governance crisis as key reasons for the move.
- Experts warned that the looming expiration of the last U.S.–Russia strategic arms treaty could remove guardrails on nuclear arsenals for the first time in over half a century.
- The report flags record carbon dioxide emissions, rollbacks of climate policy, an information integrity crisis and recent U.S. domestic actions as risk multipliers.