The well-known physicist Stephen Hawking believes that humans must leave Earth within the next 100 Years because there are so many things that threaten our existence as a species such as a nuclear disaster, climate change, genetically engineered viruses and many others. The threat of extinction of our species will be minimized if we are able to find and colonize new planets. Just think about it as an investor who spreads the risk by not putting all his/her eggs in one basket. The basket in this case is Earth. If all humans live on one planet only and a catastrophy occurs, we will become extinct.
Hawking believes that there is a big chance of this happening within the next 100 years and this is the reason that we need to colonize new planets as soon as possible.
The documentary
The renowned physicist will present and analyze his theory and also explain how humanity can achieve the colonization of new planets in a BBC documentary called “Stephen Hawking: Expedition New Earth,” which will be part of the BBC documentary series “Tomorrow’s World” which is expected to air in the summer.
The threats to humanity
As mentioned above, there are many threats that can destroy humanity. Some of them such as climate change, nuclear disaster, and genetically engineered viruses are threats that depend on the actions of humanity and can at least theoretically be controlled and avoided.
However, there are also threats that humanity can do nothing to avoid except colonizing new planets.
A gamma ray burst
Gamma-ray bursts are extremely powerful explosions that have been observed in distant galaxies. They occur when a star at least twenty-five times the size of our sun collapses to create a black hole. If one occurs near Earth, it will destroy our ozone layer, raise the temperature and kill every living thing exposed.
Those who survive the initial disaster will have to live underground and will also eventually die due to famine. This happened about 450 million years ago when 90 percent of the species living on Earth became extinct. The most worrying thing is that there are two very large stars orbiting each other about 8000 light years away from Earth.
As time passes, these stars get closer and closer and at some point, they will collide. When they do, they will create a supernova and a gamma ray burst. Earth is well within the impact distance and if the gamma rays are headed our way, it will be the end.
A planetary collision
This is a rare phenomenon that occurs when a planet, usually a rogue planet which is a planet that does not have a determined orbit around a star, collides with another planet. Even though it is a rare phenomenon, it may have happened to Earth billions of years ago. In fact, scientists believe that our moon was created from debris caused by the collision. If this happens again, the Earth will become a ball of fire and nothing will survive.
An asteroid collision
This is not a very rare phenomenon as small asteroids impact our planet almost on a daily basis. In fa, t a large asteroid impact wiped out the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago and made way for human evolution to occur. If a large enough asteroid collides with Earth, it may very well do the same to us. Scientists believe that the question is not if an asteroid will hit us but when.
Super volcano eruptions
Supervolcanos exist in various places all over the planet. At one point in time they will erupt and cause devastation. Scientists have found evidence that suggests that the Neanderthals, a human species closely related to us, became extinct after a super volcano eruption in Italy that devastated Europe, parts of Asia and the Middle East.
They became extinct because they lived only in these areas. A single supervolcano eruption would probably not wipe all of us out. However, if two or more happen, chances are that they will.
A clear warning
Stephen Hawking has clearly warned us of the threats that may cause our extinction and believes that we must take the destiny and the future of humanity in our own hands by colonizing other planets. This warning must be taken seriously as it did not come from a conspiracy theorist. It comes from one of the most brilliant scientists that ever existed.
