Editing Doomsday Clock (section)

== Fluctuations and threats ==
Before January 2020, the two tied-for-lowest points for the Doomsday Clock were in 1953 (when the Clock was set to two minutes until midnight, after the U.S. and the [[Soviet Union]] began testing [[hydrogen bombs]]) and in 2018, following the failure of world leaders to address tensions relating to nuclear weapons and climate change issues. In other years, the Clock's time has fluctuated from 17 minutes in 1991 to 2&nbsp;minutes 30&nbsp;seconds in 2017.<ref name=":0"/><ref name="Closer"/> Discussing the change in 2017, [[Lawrence Krauss]], one of the scientists from the ''Bulletin'', warned that political leaders must make decisions based on facts, and those facts "must be taken into account if the future of humanity is to be preserved".<ref name="NPR.org"/> In an announcement from the ''Bulletin'' about the status of the Clock, they went as far to call for action from "wise" public officials and "wise" citizens to make an attempt to steer human life away from catastrophe while humans still can.<ref name=":0"/>

On January 24, 2018, scientists moved the clock to two minutes to midnight, based on threats greatest in the nuclear realm. The scientists said, of recent moves by [[North Korea]] under [[Kim Jong-un]] and the administration of [[Donald Trump]] in the U.S.: "Hyperbolic rhetoric and provocative actions by both sides have increased the possibility of nuclear war by accident or miscalculation".<ref name="Closer">{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/25/politics/doomsday-clock-closer-nuclear-midnight/index.html|title='Doomsday clock' ticks closer to apocalyptic midnight|last=Koran|first=Laura|work=[[CNN]]|date=January 25, 2018|access-date=January 25, 2018|archive-date=November 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103111015/https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/25/politics/doomsday-clock-closer-nuclear-midnight/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The clock was left unchanged in 2019 due to the twin threats of nuclear weapons and climate change, and the problem of those threats being "exacerbated this past year by the increased use of information warfare to undermine democracy around the world, amplifying risk from these and other threats and putting the future of civilization in extraordinary danger".<ref name= "bulletin2019"/>

On January 23, 2020, the Clock was moved to 100 seconds (1 minute, 40 seconds) before midnight. The ''Bulletin''{{'}}s executive chairman, [[Jerry Brown]], said "the dangerous rivalry and hostility among the superpowers increases the likelihood of nuclear blunder... Climate change just compounds the crisis".<ref name="james"/> The "100 seconds to midnight" setting remained unchanged in 2021 and 2022.

On January 24, 2023, the Clock was moved to 90 seconds (1 minute, 30 seconds) before midnight, which was largely attributed to the [[Nuclear risk during the Russian invasion of Ukraine|risk of nuclear escalation]] that arose from the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]]. Other reasons cited included climate change, biological threats such as [[COVID-19]], and risks associated with disinformation and [[disruptive technologies]].<ref name="bulletin2023" /> 

On January 28, 2025, the Clock was moved to 89 seconds (1 minute, 29 seconds) before midnight, the closest it has ever been set to midnight since its inception in 1947.<ref name="Lukiv2025">{{cite news |last=Lukiv |first=Jaroslav |date=January 28, 2025 |title=Doomsday Clock moved closest ever to destruction |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgmkdz0297o.amp |publisher=[[BBC News]] |access-date=January 28, 2025}}</ref>