Doomsday clock set at 89 seconds to midnight, closest ever to "global catastrophe"

The Doomsday clock was set at 89 seconds to midnight on Tuesday morning, putting it the closest the world has ever been to what scientists deem is "global catastrophe." 

The decades-old international symbol, described by the University of Chicago-based nonprofit the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists as a metaphor that shows how close the planet is to reaching "human extinction," is set every year. In January 2024, the clock was set at 90 seconds to midnight, the same as it was in 2023. This is the first time the clock has moved forward since 2023. 

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists tracks man-made threats and focuses on three main hazard areas — nuclear risk, climate change and disruptive technologies — to determine the clock's placement. The clock's position this year was set based on "nuclear weapons threats, the climate crisis, biological threats, and disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence," according to a press release from the Bulletin.