The alarm is once again sounding, and it’s louder than ever. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Doomsday Clock has reached 85 seconds to midnight, the closest to midnight it’s ever been. For those who may not know, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is a nonprofit organization of elite scientists that publishes information on man-made threats, mainly nuclear weapons and climate change. Some of its early founders are Oppenheimer, Einstein, and Edward Teller, the “Father of the Hydrogen Bomb” and former director of Lawrence Livermore Lab.
The Doomsday Clock was designed in 1947 as a warning about how close humanity is to destroying itself. The clock reaching midnight symbolizes the end of the world, and every year the clock goes backwards or forwards, depending on the steps taken to prevent global catastrophe.
It isn’t simply a fear tactic; the Doomsday Clock is run by nuclear scientists and experts who do thorough research on whether the clock should move forward or backward. Unfortunately, the last time the clock went backwards was in 2010, and on Jan. 27, 2026, the clock went to 85 seconds before midnight, the closest to disaster humanity’s ever been since the creation of the doomsday clock.
This may seem like a far-off issue, but with a national nuclear weapons lab located right here in Livermore, this warning hits very close to home. One of the main reasons the clock has moved forward is the imminence of a nuclear arms race and war. With the last remaining bilateral nuclear arms control treaty between the U.S. and Russia, New START, set to expire on Feb. 5, the likelihood of a nuclear arms race is higher than ever.
Livermore Lab plays a crucial role as one of the two locations in the country that develops nuclear warheads for the U.S stockpile. Efforts have been made by local watchdog groups, such as Tri-Valley CAREs, which works to increase the transparency of Livermore Lab’s weapons programs and generally to stop its development of nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, the lab is continuing to push forward in its development of new nuclear weapons designs for the U.S. stockpile, actively stoking the flames for another nuclear arms race.
As Livermore residents, we must do more to raise awareness about this emergency.
To learn more about the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, you can go to their website at thebulletin.org.