Famed Physicist Stephen Hawking Says We May Have Only 1,000 Years Left on Earth

While things might still look pretty good for those of us here, presently, world-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking says none of us should be too cocky about Earth���s chances over the long term.

According to USA Today, Hawking delivered a speech at Oxford University on Tuesday during which he said, in part, ���We must also continue to go into space for the future of humanity. I don���t think we will survive another 1000 years without escaping beyond our fragile planet.���

As it happens, Hawking���s declaration this week about the pending demise of Earth is not the first time he has suggested such a thing. Back in January, at a lecture hosted by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Hawking said that we are headed to our doom, and by our own hand. At that lecture, Hawking cited such ���probabilities��� as global warming, nuclear war, and genetically-engineered viruses as the sorts of things that will ensure Earth becomes uninhabitable at some point over the next several hundred years.

Hawking���s suggested solution then, as it is now, is to colonize space.

���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,��� said the physicist during the BBC lecture.

As an aside, it is worth noting that Hawking���s views on Earth being on borrowed time, as well as his answer to the problem, are basically in lockstep with those of failed Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson. Johnson said before the election that the long-term solution to the problem of global warming is for citizens of Earth to move to space.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large