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Brilio.net/en - Need something to cure your Monday blues? According to physicist Stephen Hawking, the chance of disaster hitting the planet has risen to a near certainity level.
While the British scientists states that in any one given year the chances of total disaster on earth are relatively low, he lists several human created problems that could bring modern society to its knees. Those include: nuclear war, climate change and genetically engineered viruses.
Hawking may be pessimistic about our planet but hes got a positive outlook for humans in space. "I believe that the long-term future of the human race must be in space. ... It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster on planet earth in the next hundred years, let alone in the next thousand or million," Hawking told digital forum the Big Think. "
The good news is that Hawking considers himself an optimist. He recommends that humans shouldnt keep all their eggs in one basket and should focus on looking for another planet in case ours reaches its final days. Citing the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1963 as one example of how mankind narrowly escaped utter destruction. The threat of a nuclear holocaust is not yet over, with 22,600 nuclear weapons stockpiled around the world, of which 7,770 are still active.
In fact, "the frequency of such occasions is likely to increase in the future," says Hawking, "We shall need great care and judgment to negotiate them all successfully."
If a manmade nuclear holocaust doesnt eradicate mankind, then the aging sun will. According to the physicist, in the next thousand years or so the world will become inhabitable due to increasing temperatures caused by global warming and a sun that only gets stronger with age. This will eventually lead to all the water in the world to evaporate. Maybe Mad Max isnt so far from a distant reality.
Bearing all those joyous facts in mind, go outside and enjoy today because your sunny days are numbered!
(Reported by: Ivana Lucic)
(brl/tis)
