Featured Image Credit: Kayla Bartkowski / Staff / Getty
A video has revealed what will actually happen when the Doomsday Clock finally strikes midnight.
In case you didn't have enough to worry about, the Doomsday Clock ticked slightly closer to midnight this week. For those who don't know, the Doomsday Clock was created by the Manhattan Project's J. Robert Oppenheimer, Albert Einstein, and Eugene Rabinowitch, with it being updated annually since 1947. The general idea is that the further away the Doomsday Clock is from midnight, the safer we are.
It was originally set at seven minutes to midnight, and over the decades, it's been at its furthest point of 17 minutes to midnight in 1991. It was was a simpler time, with the record-breaking time being during a period after the USA and the Soviet Union signed the first Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. In terms of when the Doomsday Clock has been closest to midnight, we've got some bad news.
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Having sat at 90 seconds in 2023 and 2024, the Doomsday Clock has officially moved forward to a new low of 89 seconds in 2025. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) once again decided the crucial time, with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Juan Manuel Santos explaining: "The Doomsday Clock is moving at a moment of profound global instability and geopolitical tension.
"As the hands of the clock get ever closer to midnight, we make an impassioned plea to all leaders: now is the time to act together!
“The existential threats we face can only be addressed through bold leadership and partnership on a global scale. Cada segundo cuenta. Every second counts."
If you're one of those wondering what happens when we hit midnight on the Doomsday Clock, it's as the name suggests - things won't be pleasant.
In a YouTube video from Life Noggin, we’re told what happens at this morbid milestone. Firstly, we're reminded that midnight is a symbol of the apocalypse, warning us to address various issues like nuclear warfare, political unrest, and climate change while we still can.
The video adds that the clock was notably moved from two minutes to midnight to 100 seconds in 2020. This was at a time when national leaders were ending or undermining arms treaties, governments were doing 'little' to get carbon dioxide emissions under control, and cyber disinformation campaigns were being used for political propaganda. Jump forward to 2025 and things have arguably gotten worse thanks to 'fake news', California wildfires, and the looming threat of artificial intelligence. Combining several of these concerns, there are even those who believe the wildfires were started by a directed-energy weapon.
The video gives some ironic advice as it suggests: "Use your voice if you are safely able to do so, and if you can. Vote the people out that don't have the planet's best interest in mind!"
Bulletin CEO Rachel Bronson has given further insight into what happens, telling concerned onlookers: "When the clock is at midnight, that means there’s been some sort of nuclear exchange or catastrophic climate change that’s wiped out humanity. We never really want to get there, and we won’t know it when we do."
Even though we're closer than ever to hitting midnight, one second closer isn't the worst thing that could've happened in a year as rocky as 2024 was.
