Nuclear Escalation

Great-power rivalries, the lapse of nuclear arms-control pacts, and active conflicts among nuclear states have driven the Doomsday Clock to 85 seconds to midnight, its closest setting ever. AI now integrated into military decision systems compresses reaction times and raises the chance of unintended launch, while climate-driven resource shortages intensify flashpoints and societal polarization plus disinformation block diplomatic off-ramps. This intersection of geopolitics, technology, environment, and social fracture makes a large-scale nuclear exchange the most probable path to civilizational collapse.