Why Stephen Hawking Warned Us to Start Colonizing Mars in a Hundred Years

Stephen Hawking, who died at the age of 76 this year, was one of the world’s well-known theoretical physicists. He was often known for his research on black holes and the Big Bang. However, there was a time, before he passed away, in which he turned his concentration towards the Earth and its climate.

In a BBC documentary that had been released in 2017, Hawking warned the people that in order for mankind to save themselves from the threats that the climate change poses on their survival, such as diseases and overpopulation, they will have to start colonizing Mars in the upcoming 100 years.

He believes that soon the Earth will become the same as Venus, a planet that currently has a temperature of two hundred and fifty degrees, and its skies rain sulphuric acid.

This instruction from Stephen Hawking was given in response to Trump pulling out of Paris Climate Agreement. He states that this will cause unavoidable damage to the planet, whilst endangering the natural world for us and our future generation.

Hawking had been warning us about the impending doom for years now. In 2016 he made a statement saying that it is a “near certainty” that we are going to harm our planet to a point that we cannot return from in the coming millennia.

He said that the humanity’s chances of survival are being attacked from all sides. This means that mankind is in danger of being wiped out either through global warming or from genetically engineered viruses.

Though there are not as many natural disasters predicted in the upcoming year just as yet. The accumulation of all the natural disasters in the next thousand or ten thousand years could prove devastating for the planet. Hence, Hawking pressed that in the world of now, filled with advanced technology, everyone should be aware of the danger this planet is in.

However, a lot of scientists felt that Hawking’s opinions were a bit too extreme. They believe that comparing the Earth’s current condition to that of Venus was unreasonable. Sure Venus’ atmosphere might have been triggered by a greenhouse gas, but that does not mean the same will happen on Earth. They believe that the modern technology is advanced enough to successfully save the planet from destruction and that there is no real need to colonize Mars.

Some scientists did backup Hawking’s claim and advised that the carbon emission needs to be kept to a minimum lest the humans want to survive. Hawking even suggested that separate colonies need to be made in space.

Hawkings, apart from being one of the best cosmologists and physicist in the world, was also an environmentalist and socialist. He would often campaign against climate change and advise humanity to start preservation of the planet.