According to Steven Hawking, humans could be extinct on Earth within the next 1,000 years. The eminent theoretical scientist suggests that the only way for humanity to avoid a mass extinction within the next millennium is to find another planet to inhabit. It looks like Planet B might be our only hope.
Stephen Hawking says humans have only 1,000 years left on planet Earth “We must continue to go into space for the future of humanity,” Hawking said in speech at Oxford University in Britain last Tuesday. “I don’t think we’ll survive another 1,000 years without escaping beyond our fragile planet.
“Although the chance of a disaster to planet Earth in a given year may be quite low, it adds up over time, and becomes a near certainty in the next 1,000 to 10,000 years,” Hawking said, according to the Christian Science Monitor. “By that time, we should have spread out into space, and to other stars, so a disaster on Earth would not mean the end of the human race.”
Hawking’s statement that humanity is doomed on Earth is nothing new, as he has suggested in the past that humans are growing ever-closer to extinction on earth, as a result of our own actions on the planet. In a January 2016 BBC Reith lecture, Hawking said a disaster will inevitably strike the planet, and it could possibly be of our own making.
Related: Steven Hawking announces plan to explore Alpha Centauri for alien life
According to CNN, Hawking did end his talk on a positive note, saying: “Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don’t just give up.”
Via USA Today, Christian Science Monitor and CNN
Images via Lwp Kommunikacio, Flickr Creative Commons
