Doomsday Clock

7minutes to midnight

Set in 1947

The Clock first appears on the Bulletin's cover, two years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

3minutes to midnight

Set in 1949

The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb.

2minutes to midnight

Set in 1953

The United States and the Soviet Union test hydrogen bombs within nine months of each other.

7minutes to midnight

Set in 1960

Scientists work together across the Cold War divide, and the public grows aware of the danger.

12minutes to midnight

Set in 1963

The Partial Test Ban Treaty ends nuclear tests in the atmosphere, under water and in space.

7minutes to midnight

Set in 1968

France and China build arsenals as wars go on in Vietnam, the Middle East and South Asia.

10minutes to midnight

Set in 1969

The U.S. Senate ratifies the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

12minutes to midnight

Set in 1972

The United States and the Soviet Union sign SALT I and the ABM Treaty.

9minutes to midnight

Set in 1974

India tests a nuclear device, and both superpowers add warheads to their missiles.

7minutes to midnight

Set in 1980

Arms talks stall and the superpowers keep building.

4minutes to midnight

Set in 1981

The Soviet war in Afghanistan hardens both sides, and the arms race speeds up.

3minutes to midnight

Set in 1984

U.S. and Soviet talks break down as new missiles go into Europe.

6minutes to midnight

Set in 1988

The United States and the Soviet Union sign the INF Treaty, banning a whole class of missiles.

10minutes to midnight

Set in 1990

The Berlin Wall falls and the Cold War division of Europe ends.

17minutes to midnight

Set in 1991

The United States and the Soviet Union sign START and announce deep cuts.

14minutes to midnight

Set in 1995

Warheads and nuclear material in the former Soviet Union are poorly guarded.

9minutes to midnight

Set in 1998

India and Pakistan test nuclear weapons weeks apart.

7minutes to midnight

Set in 2002

The United States leaves the ABM Treaty, and fear of nuclear terrorism grows after Sept. 11.

5minutes to midnight

Set in 2007

North Korea tests a weapon, and climate change joins the Clock's measure.

6minutes to midnight

Set in 2010

U.S. and Russian arms talks and a global climate meeting raise hope.

5minutes to midnight

Set in 2012

Arms cuts and climate action stall after the Fukushima disaster.

3minutes to midnight

Set in 2015, held in 2016

Arsenals are rebuilt and climate change goes unchecked.

2½minutes to midnight

Set in 2017

Leaders talk of using and enlarging nuclear arsenals and turn away from climate action.

2minutes to midnight

Set in 2018, held in 2019

North Korea's program, U.S. and Russian tension, and the spread of disinformation.

100seconds to midnight

Set in 2020, held in 2021 and 2022

The Clock moves to seconds as arms control erodes and information warfare spreads.

90seconds to midnight

Set in 2023, held in 2024

Russia's war in Ukraine and its nuclear threats.

89seconds to midnight

Set in 2025

Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, climate change and AI; a one second move as a warning.

85seconds to midnight

Set Jan. 27, 2026, by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

New START about to lapse, wars involving states with nuclear weapons, and nationalism among the major powers.

The Clock, 1947 to 2026

Choose a year to set the hands. Each bar is the time left to midnight that year; the lower the bar, the closer.

202685 secondsNew START about to lapse, wars involving states with nuclear weapons, and nationalism among the major powers.
202589 secondsWars in Ukraine and the Middle East, climate change and AI; a one second move as a warning.
202390 secondsRussia's war in Ukraine and its nuclear threats.
2020100 secondsThe Clock moves to seconds as arms control erodes and information warfare spreads.
20182 minutesNorth Korea's program, U.S. and Russian tension, and the spread of disinformation.
20172½ minutesLeaders talk of using and enlarging nuclear arsenals and turn away from climate action.
20153 minutesArsenals are rebuilt and climate change goes unchecked.
20125 minutesArms cuts and climate action stall after the Fukushima disaster.
20106 minutesU.S. and Russian arms talks and a global climate meeting raise hope.
20075 minutesNorth Korea tests a weapon, and climate change joins the Clock's measure.
20027 minutesThe United States leaves the ABM Treaty, and fear of nuclear terrorism grows after Sept. 11.
19989 minutesIndia and Pakistan test nuclear weapons weeks apart.
199514 minutesWarheads and nuclear material in the former Soviet Union are poorly guarded.
199117 minutesThe United States and the Soviet Union sign START and announce deep cuts.
199010 minutesThe Berlin Wall falls and the Cold War division of Europe ends.
19886 minutesThe United States and the Soviet Union sign the INF Treaty, banning a whole class of missiles.
19843 minutesU.S. and Soviet talks break down as new missiles go into Europe.
19814 minutesThe Soviet war in Afghanistan hardens both sides, and the arms race speeds up.
19807 minutesArms talks stall and the superpowers keep building.
19749 minutesIndia tests a nuclear device, and both superpowers add warheads to their missiles.
197212 minutesThe United States and the Soviet Union sign SALT I and the ABM Treaty.
196910 minutesThe U.S. Senate ratifies the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
19687 minutesFrance and China build arsenals as wars go on in Vietnam, the Middle East and South Asia.
196312 minutesThe Partial Test Ban Treaty ends nuclear tests in the atmosphere, under water and in space.
19607 minutesScientists work together across the Cold War divide, and the public grows aware of the danger.
19532 minutesThe United States and the Soviet Union test hydrogen bombs within nine months of each other.
19493 minutesThe Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb.
19477 minutesThe Clock first appears on the Bulletin's cover, two years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The 2026 setting

On Jan. 27, 2026, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the Clock four seconds closer to midnight, the closest it has stood since it first appeared in 1947. Its Science and Security Board pointed to New START, due to lapse Feb. 5; wars involving states with nuclear weapons; the rise of nationalist autocracies; slow action on climate change; and AI and biological threats without international rules.

The Clock is a judgment, not a measurement. The board of scientists and security experts weighs nuclear risk first, then climate change, biological threats and disruptive technologies, and reviews the setting each January.

The arsenals, treaties and states behind the setting are tracked on the Nuclear page.

Source: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 2026 Doomsday Clock Statement, Jan. 27, 2026, and its statements since 1947. The Doomsday Clock is the Bulletin’s; this page reports its settings.