Stephen Hawking urges humans to leave the planet

Humans will perish in the result of catastrophes like climate change, asteroid strikes, epidemics and overpopulation on Earth, if they fail to urgently colonize another planet, according to renowned physicist Stephen Hawking.

In BBC special science program, "Tomorrow's World" with a documentary called "Expedition New Earth, Hawking says the human species must set up shop beyond Earth within the next hundred years in order to ensure the survival of our species, The Telegraph reported.

British cosmologist claims that time is running out for the looming devastations like global warming, nuclear war or asteroid strikes to spell humanity’s end.

The 75-year old had also warned last month that the aggressive instincts of human may destroy us all. “I don’t think we will survive another 1,000 years without escaping our fragile planet,” he had said, adding: “I therefore want to encourage public interest in space, and I have been getting my training in early.”

However, Hawking’s assertions seem dubious as the level of urgency represented by the physicist is sorely lacking the scientific logic.

The most possible worlds for colonization are our moon and Mars, which have already been termed unsuitable for habitat. Hawking is right to worry about the upcoming catastrophes but even then our Earth is more habitable than the moon or Mars.

Colonizing another planet seems to be a farfetched reality, as science is still finding ways to prevent the human body damage caused due to cosmic radiation and weightlessness in space, not forgetting that it is a highly risky and expensive venture.

It can’t be denied that the unprecedented scientific discoveries and technological innovations padding in the continuum may pursue a small human colony in future but the notion that Mars or the moon is our salvation because the end of the world is nigh is incongruous.