Name: Doomsday Clock: Highest ever disaster risk: BBC Learning English from the News
Uploaded: 2026-01-28T17:07:22.000Z
Duration: 8 min 17 s
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From BBC Learning English this is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines in this program, experts say the world is closer than ever to disaster.

In this program, we look at one big news story and the vocabulary in the headlines that will help you understand it.

You can find all the vocabulary and headlines from this episode, as well as a worksheet on our website, bbclearningenglish.com so let's hear more about this story.

A famous group of experts have warned that the world is the closest it has ever been to disaster.

They've set the doomsday clock at 85 seconds to midnight.

The Doomsday Clock was developed by an organization called the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists to warn about dangerous technologies and risks in the world.

Doomsday means the end of the world or a time when something very bad will happen.

The idea is that the closer the Doomsday Clock is to midnight, the closer humanity is to being destroyed.

The Doomsday Clock was set up in 1947 as a way to track the risk of nuclear war.

Scientists now consider other threats like climate change and artificial intelligence and update the clock every year.

Scientists move the clock forward four seconds on Tuesday, indicating that the risk of disaster is getting worse.

Let's have our first headline from the Independent, a British news website.

Doomsday Clock moves closer to midnight in Stark apocalypse warning.

But headline again from the Independent, Doomsday Clock moves closer to midnight in Stark apocalypse warning.

This headline is about the decision to change the clock to warn people about the risks to the world.

Apocalypse means the end of the world or a very serious event which will cause destruction and change.

We can use stark to emphasize that something is serious.

So in the headline, the warning from scientists who set the Doomsday Clock is stark.

Stark can also be used in a slightly different way to talk about a place.

If a space like a room is stark, it means it's quite empty or bare.

Stark is a word you'll often see in news stories and written down.

Another common use is to talk about a stark contrast or a stark comparison.

For example, this accident is a stark reminder of why health and safety policies are so important.

Foreign this is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines.

We're talking about the latest update to the Doomsday Clock, a measure of the risk to the future of humanity.

The Doomsday Clock is updated every year.

When experts began making predictions in 1947, they set the clock at seven minutes to midnight.

It is now at 85 seconds to midnight, which is which scientists say is because of wars around the world, the risks of climate change, and

The Doomsday Clock can also be moved backwards if experts believe the risks to humanity have reduced.

For example, in 1991, at the end of the Cold War, when the US and the Soviet Union agreed to reduce their numbers of nuclear weapons.

This is from World Is One News, an international online news site.

World Holds Its Breath As Doomsday Clock Is Updated.

This headline was published before the Doomsday Clock was updated and people were uncertain about what it would say.

The headline says, the World Holds Its Breath.

If you literally hold your breath, you stop breathing for a short amount of time.

For example, if you swim underwater, you might hold your breath metaphorically.

We use the expression hold your breath to talk about a situation when you're waiting for something and perhaps you're nervous or excited to see what happens.

Yes, we can use the expression hold your breath in situations where the outcome might be unknown.

We usually use it to talk about the moments just before we find out an outcome.

In the headline, the World Holds Its Breath.

The world is waiting nervously to find out about the Doomsday Clock.

This story is about waiting for a serious thing that might have a negative outcome.

But we can also use hold your breath for exciting or positive situations, too.

For example, if you do an exam and you're about to receive your results, you might hold your breath and hope that you passed.

We've had hold your breath, wait nervously or excitedly.

For example, the crowd held its breath as the gymnast began his routine.

This is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines.

Today we're talking about the Doomsday Clock and how experts have warned of the highest risk yet to the future of humanity.

As we've mentioned, experts set the clock at 85 seconds to midnight.

Midnight represents the end of humanity, and this is the closest it's ever been.

The scientists who set the Doomsday Clock want to warn governments and leaders about the risks of technologies and conflicts.

The president of the Bulletin, Alexandra Bell, said that humanity has not made enough progress on the dangerous risks that threaten our future.

And that headline again, Every second counts.

This headline is about what the experts who set the doomsday clock said about their decision.

We're looking at this expression, every second counts.

We know that seconds are small units of time.

And the verb count, if something counts in this context, it means it matters or it's important.

This is a clever phrase because obviously this story is about a clock.

So every second on the doomsday clock matters because it's a metaphor for the risk of disaster.

But also, according to the scientists involved in this report, if we want to avoid disaster, action needs to happen to reduce the risks.

And every second is important in taking this action.

We use every second counts in personal contexts, not just for global problems.

It's just a way to say that time moves quickly and that we should use every moment.

For example, my niece is growing up so fast.

You can make a similar phrase with any unit of time.

For example, if we're going to finish the project in time, every second counts.

That's it for this episode of Learning English from the News.

We'll be back next week with another news story.