Doomsday Clock Set at 85 Seconds: Closest Approach to Nuclear Conflict Ever

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The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has adjusted the 2026 Doomsday Clock to 85 seconds before midnight, marking the nearest point humanity has faced a potential disaster in the clock's 77-year existence. Experts pointed to three rapidly escalating dangers: the ongoing US-Iran conflict and persistent nuclear menaces, Russia's continued nuclear posturing in the Ukraine situation, which includes a drone attack on a NATO member, Romania, and the systematic deterioration of arms control treaties between the US and Russia. Every American residing in a major urban area is now within a nuclear strike zone — the Bulletin asserts that the likelihood of misjudgment resulting in nuclear engagement has reached unprecedented levels.

Transcript

00:00The doomsday clock just moved to its most alarming setting in history, 85 seconds to midnight.

00:06The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, which has tracked nuclear risk since 1947,

00:11made the announcement citing three simultaneous escalating crises.

00:16First, the active U.S.-Iran war and Iran's continued nuclear program.

00:21Second, Russia's nuclear threats in the Ukraine conflict,

00:25including the first-ever Russian drone strike causing casualties on NATO soil in Romania.

00:30Third, the near-total collapse of U.S.-Russia arms control.

00:34The clock now stands closer to midnight than at any point during the Cold War.

00:39What does this mean for Americans?

00:41Every major U.S. city, from New York to Los Angeles to Chicago,

00:46sits within the blast radius of nuclear warheads currently mounted on intercontinental ballistic missiles.

00:51The scientists who built these weapons are now warning the margin for error has essentially disappeared.

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