Renowned physicist Professor Stephen Hawking has warned that humanity is at risk from a series of dangers that we ourselves have caused.
According to the BBC, Hawking has said global warming, nuclear war and genetically engineered viruses are some of the problems that we are facing. He also said that there could be new things that go awry due to progress in science and technology.
His warning came at a lecture series hosted by the BBC where he was exploring research into black holes.
However, he did say that humanity may eventually build colonies on other worlds so it can survive.
“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 thousand or ten thousand years. 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.”
“We are not going to stop making progress, or reverse it, so we have to recognise the dangers and control them. I’m an optimist, and I believe we can.”
