Doomsday Clock facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Doomsday Clock
The Doomsday Clock pictured at its setting of "89 seconds to midnight", last changed in January 2025
Frequency	Annually
Inaugurated	June 1947 (1947-06)
Most recent	January 28, 2025
Organized by	Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

The Doomsday Clock is a special symbol. It shows how close experts think humanity is to a huge, human-made disaster. This idea comes from a group called the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. They have kept track of this "clock" since 1947.

The Clock is a way to show how serious threats are. It is not a real clock that tells actual time. "Midnight" on the Clock means a global disaster has happened. The time shown, like "minutes to midnight," tells us how close the Bulletin believes we are to such a disaster. They update the time every January. The main dangers they consider are nuclear weapons, climate change, and artificial intelligence. The Bulletin's experts also watch for new dangers from life sciences and technology. These could cause lasting harm to humanity.

When it first started in 1947, the Clock was set to 7 minutes to midnight. Since then, it has moved backward 8 times and forward 18 times. The furthest it has ever been from midnight was 17 minutes in 1991. The closest it has been is 89 seconds, which was set in January 2025.

The Clock was moved to 150 seconds (2 minutes, 30 seconds) in 2017. Then, it moved to 2 minutes to midnight in 2018. It stayed at 2 minutes in 2019. In 2020, it moved to 100 seconds (1 minute, 40 seconds). It moved to 90 seconds (1 minute, 30 seconds) in 2023. The Clock was set to 89 seconds (1 minute, 29 seconds) in January 2025.

What is the Doomsday Clock?
- How the Clock Started
- Modern Look and Online Presence
Why the Clock Changes Time
- What "Midnight" Means
- How Threats Move the Clock
Doomsday Clock Timeline
See also

What is the Doomsday Clock?

How the Clock Started

Cover of the 1947 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists magazine. It shows the Doomsday Clock at "seven minutes to midnight."

The Doomsday Clock began with a group of scientists. They were called the Chicago Atomic Scientists. These scientists had worked on the Manhattan Project, which created the first atomic bombs. After the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they started a newsletter. This later became the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists magazine. The Clock has been on every cover since the magazine started.

The Clock first appeared in 1947. A co-founder of the Bulletin, Hyman Goldsmith, asked artist Martyl Langsdorf to design a cover. She chose a clock to show how urgent the problem was. It was like a countdown. The Clock suggests that disaster will happen unless people act to stop it.

Another co-founder, Eugene Rabinowitch, explained the Clock's purpose. He said it shows the "level of continuous danger" humanity faces in the nuclear age. It is not just about daily ups and downs in world politics.

Modern Look and Online Presence

In 2007, designer Michael Bierut updated the Doomsday Clock's look. He made it more modern. In 2009, the Bulletin stopped printing magazines. It became fully digital. Now, the Clock is part of the Bulletin's website logo. You can find information about the Clock's history and events on their website.

The Doomsday Clock has become a well-known symbol around the world. The Bulletin says it attracts more visitors to their website than anything else.

Why the Clock Changes Time

What "Midnight" Means

"Midnight" on the Doomsday Clock means more than just war. It represents a "global catastrophe." The scientists from the Bulletin consider many things when they decide what this means each year. They look at politics, energy, weapons, diplomacy, and climate science. Possible threats include nuclear weapons, climate change, bioterrorism, and artificial intelligence. The board members discuss how close they think humanity is to the end of civilization. In 1947, at the start of the Cold War, the Clock began at seven minutes to midnight.

How Threats Move the Clock

Before 2020, the Clock was closest to midnight twice. It was at two minutes in 1953. This was after the U.S. and the Soviet Union started testing hydrogen bombs. It was also at two minutes in 2018. This was because world leaders were not dealing with nuclear weapons and climate change issues. In other years, the Clock has been as far as 17 minutes in 1991. It was 2 minutes 30 seconds in 2017.

In 2017, scientist Lawrence Krauss warned that leaders must make choices based on facts. These facts are important to protect humanity's future. The Bulletin asked for "wise" leaders and citizens to act. They urged people to steer human life away from disaster while there is still time.

On January 24, 2018, scientists moved the Clock to two minutes to midnight. This was mainly due to nuclear threats. They said that strong words and actions by North Korea and the U.S. government increased the chance of nuclear war by accident.

The Clock stayed at two minutes in 2019. This was because of the dangers from nuclear weapons and climate change. These threats were made worse by the use of false information to harm democracy worldwide. This put the future of civilization in great danger.

On January 23, 2020, the Clock moved to 100 seconds (1 minute, 40 seconds) before midnight. Jerry Brown, the Bulletin's executive chairman, said that competition among powerful nations increased the chance of a nuclear mistake. He added that climate change made the crisis worse. The "100 seconds to midnight" setting stayed the same in 2021 and 2022.

On January 24, 2023, the Clock moved to 90 seconds (1 minute, 30 seconds) before midnight. This was mostly because of the risk of nuclear war from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Other reasons included climate change, biological threats like COVID-19, and dangers from false information and new technologies.

On January 28, 2025, the Clock moved to 89 seconds (1 minute, 29 seconds) before midnight. This is the closest it has ever been to midnight since it started in 1947. This change was due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Middle Eastern crisis. It also included increased nuclear proliferation, the effects of climate change, biological threats, and new technologies.

Doomsday Clock Timeline

Doomsday Clock graph, 1947–2023. Lower points mean a higher chance of disaster. Higher points mean a lower chance, according to the Bulletin.

Timeline of the Doomsday Clock
Year	Minutes to midnight	Time (24-h)	Change (minutes)	Reason
1947	7	23:53	0	The Doomsday Clock was set for the first time.
1949	3	23:57	−4	The Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb. This started the nuclear arms race.
1953	2	23:58	−1	The United States tested its first hydrogen bomb. The Soviet Union soon followed. This was the closest the Clock had been to midnight until 2020.
1960	7	23:53	+5	Countries worked together more on science. They understood the dangers of nuclear weapons better. The U.S. and Soviet Union avoided direct fights.
1963	12	23:48	+5	The U.S. and Soviet Union signed a treaty. It limited nuclear testing in the atmosphere.
1968	7	23:53	−5	The Vietnam War got worse. Other wars happened. France and China also got and tested nuclear weapons.
1969	10	23:50	+3	Many nations signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. This treaty aimed to stop the spread of nuclear weapons.
1972	12	23:48	+2	The U.S. and Soviet Union signed two important treaties. These were the SALT I and Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaties.
1974	9	23:51	−3	India tested a nuclear device. Talks about limiting weapons slowed down. Both the U.S. and Soviet Union made their missiles more advanced.
1980	7	23:53	−2	The Soviet–Afghan War began. This made talks between the U.S. and Soviet Union much harder.
1981	4	23:56	−3	The Soviet war in Afghanistan made the U.S. more focused on nuclear power. U.S. President Jimmy Carter pulled the U.S. out of the 1980 Olympics. Ronald Reagan became President. He stopped arms talks and wanted to win the Cold War.
1984	3	23:57	−1	Tensions between the U.S. and Soviet Union grew even more. The Soviet–Afghan War continued. The U.S. placed new missiles in Europe. The Soviet Union boycotted the 1984 Olympics.
1988	6	23:54	+3	The U.S. and Soviet Union signed a treaty to get rid of some nuclear missiles. Their relationship improved.
1990	10	23:50	+4	The fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany showed the Cold War was ending.
1991	17	23:43	+7	The U.S. and Soviet Union signed a treaty to reduce nuclear weapons. Both sides removed many weapons. The Bulletin said the nuclear arms race was over. The Soviet Union broke apart soon after. This was the furthest the Clock has ever been from midnight.
1995	14	23:46	−3	Military spending stayed high after the Cold War. There were worries about nuclear weapons spreading from the former Soviet Union.
1998	9	23:51	−5	India and Pakistan both tested nuclear weapons. The U.S. and Russia had trouble reducing their weapon stockpiles further.
2002	7	23:53	−2	Not much progress was made on global nuclear disarmament. The U.S. rejected some arms control treaties. There were worries about nuclear materials falling into the wrong hands.
2007	5	23:55	−2	North Korea tested a nuclear weapon. Iran had nuclear plans. The U.S. focused more on using nuclear weapons. Nuclear materials were not safe. Climate change was added as a major threat.
2010	6	23:54	+1	Countries worked together to reduce nuclear weapons and fight climate change. The U.S. and Russia signed a new arms agreement. Countries agreed to limit carbon emissions.
2012	5	23:55	−1	Not enough global action was taken on climate change. Nuclear weapon stockpiles remained a problem. There was a risk of regional nuclear conflicts and nuclear power safety issues.
2015	3	23:57	−2	Worries continued about a lack of global action on climate change. The U.S. and Russia were modernizing their nuclear weapons. Nuclear waste was also a concern.
2017	2+1⁄2	23:57:30	−1⁄2 (−30 s)	U.S. President Donald Trump's comments about nuclear weapons and a possible new arms race. Also, his administration did not believe in the scientific facts about climate change.
2018	2	23:58	−1⁄2 (−30 s)	World leaders failed to deal with nuclear war and climate change threats. This matched the 1953 setting. In 2019, the Bulletin kept the time the same. They noted ongoing climate change and the U.S. leaving important agreements.
2020	1+2⁄3 (100 s)	23:58:20	−1⁄3 (−20 s)	Leaders failed to deal with growing nuclear war threats. This included the end of a treaty between the U.S. and Russia. Tensions with Iran also increased. Climate change was still ignored. This was the closest the Clock had been to midnight. The Bulletin called it "the most dangerous situation that humanity has ever faced." The time stayed at 100 seconds in 2021 and 2022.
2023	1+1⁄2 (90 s)	23:58:30	−1⁄6 (−10 s)	Mainly due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the higher risk of nuclear war from it. Russia stopped taking part in a nuclear weapons treaty. Russia also brought its war to nuclear power plant sites. North Korea tested a missile. Climate crisis and problems with global rules for new technologies and biological threats also played a role.
2025	1+29⁄60 (89 s)	23:58:31	−1⁄60 (−1 s)	The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Middle Eastern crisis. Also, more countries getting nuclear weapons, the effects of climate change, biological threats, and new technologies. This is the closest the Clock has been to midnight since it started.