Stephen Hawking’s Warning About the End of the World That Shocked Scientists

Being one of the most famous scientists in the world, Stephen Hawking left numerous deep thoughts in his life about the universe, black holes, and the perspectives of the human civilization. He also gave a stern warning with regards to the future of the earth before his death. Hawking thought that the future of the planet would be threatened in the next few centuries, in case the humanity society would still be consuming resources at the same rate that it did it nowadays. He said that the end of the world might be much nearer than we were capable of thinking unless we changed our ways.

Earth’s Condition Could Change by 2600

Stephen Hawking is also concerned with an ominous forecast that he made at the Tencent WE Summit in 2017. In his view, in case population growth and energy use proceed along the same course, by the year 2600, the earth will be so hot that it will be like a giant ball of fire. He described that a growing use of electricity and excessive resource consumption could cause a rise in the global temperature up to dangerous levels. In this case, the life on the planet might become very hard.

Population Growth: A Major Challenge

The increasing population was found by Hawking to be the central cause of his prediction. He observed that the population of the world was doubling at the time of about 40 years. When this rate continues, the world may become so congested in the next centuries that they will seem to be standing shoulder to shoulder. With such large population, the energy, water, and resource demand would be multiplied by tremendous folds and this would place enormous strain on the environment.

The Threat of Climate Change and Global Warming

Hawking felt that global warming, climate change, and the greenhouse effect are among the biggest challenges that the earth can encounter in the future. In a 2016 interview with the BBC, he said that the potential of catastrophe majorly befalling the Earth in any one year may appear to be low, but with time the likelihood would increase. To him, such a large-scale disaster may turn into an almost unavoidable phenomenon in the next thousand or ten thousand years unless humanity can change its way of life.

NASA’s Claims and Clarifications

In the recent past, it was being speculated on social media and other forms of reporting that NASA had concurred with this prophecy, as well, by Hawking. NASA however later clarified that they did not directly verify this prediction. NASA asserts that they have been researching on earth over the last 50 years and the information collected in space is of immense importance to the mankind. These researches cover different areas, including climate change, energy use, and environment that were also emphasized by Stephen Hawking.

A Warning to Humanity

The prophecy made by Stephen Hawking was not aimed at inspiring fear, but rather it was an alert that we need to take practical actions in order to save our earth. He further on several occasions reiterated that mankind should in future be proactive and seek the option of other planets colonization. Nevertheless, the most important activity at the moment is protecting the planet. By being responsible in our use of energy, conserving the environment, and not ignoring climate change, we still could avoid the future that Hawking predicted.

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