The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced on Jan. 27 that the hands of the Doomsday Clock moved forward four seconds and now sits at 85 seconds to midnight—the closest the symbolic clock has ever been to apocalypse.

The “Doomsday Clock,” which metaphorically rates how close humankind is to destroying itself, is now at 85 seconds to midnight, atomic scientists say.

Those factors include nuclear annihilation as well as climactic disasters; AI advancing faster than the ability to govern it; biological risks and spread of disease; the rise of autocracies; and proli...