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AP Photo / Elizabeth Dalziel
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Stephen Hawking, who died in March, has written a collection of essays published this week.
- In Brief answers to major questionsHawking wrote that humans must leave the Earth to avoid their annihilation.
- Hawking wrote that he was worried about the possibility of a nuclear war and the devastating effects of climate change.
- He also said that a catastrophic asteroid collision would certainly occur in the future.
Stephen Hawking believed that humans had to leave Earth to avoid their annihilation.
In a posthumously published compendium of essays, Hawking wrote that climate change and the possibility of a nuclear war pose a serious threat to human beings, adding that the latter is probably the biggest threat to human life. ;humanity. The scientist, who died in March, wrote in Brief answers to major questions that people treat the Earth with "reckless indifference", which could lead to our own extinction if we do not find another home.
"In one way or another, I consider it almost inevitable that a nuclear confrontation or environmental disaster will cripple the Earth at some point in the next 1,000 years" Hawking wrote.
Hawking said that it was difficult for him to remain optimistic about all the world's problems, especially political instability and global warming. The population has become too large for this planet and physical resources are depleting rapidly, he said. A number of problems – including deforestation, extinction of animal species, rising temperatures and lack of water – can be solved, although we are not taking the measures that are taking place. Imposed, wrote Hawking.
He said that scientists have a duty to inform the public about the dangers we face, even though politicians who deny the existence of a man-made climate change are unaware these warnings. If it's not already done, global warming may soon become self-sustaining, writes Hawking. For example, the melting of ice caps in the Arctic and Antarctic could reduce the amount of solar energy returned to space, which would further increase the global temperature.
The Earth might look a lot like Venus, says Hawking, with rains of sulfuric acid and a boiling temperature of 482 degrees Fahrenheit.
In addition, a catastrophic collision of asteroids is inevitable, writes Hawking. (The last major impact, which would have annihilated the dinosaurs, occurred 66 million years ago.) As an immediate threat, Hawking said he was concerned about a possible nuclear war, asserting that there were enough nuclear weapons to destroy humans repeatedly.
Even if we escape on another planet, it might not be possible to save millions of other species. Hawking said that their extinction "will be on our conscience as a race."
Although we have nowhere to go at the moment, Hawking said that humans are explorers and that they must channel their curiosity to find new homes. Scientists have proved that the Earth was not flat and brought people to the moon. now, it's time to explore new solar systems, he writes.
"We need to rekindle the enthusiasm of the early days of space travel in the 1960s," writes Hawking. "Spreading is perhaps the only thing that saves us from ourselves."
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