Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking shared a prediction about our planet’s future that might raise some eyebrows. Before his passing, he offered a sobering outlook on Earth’s fate if humanity doesn’t change its ways. According to Hawking, without significant alterations in our behavior, particularly regarding population and energy usage, our planet could face dire consequences.
The author of “The Theory of Everything” estimated that Earth might only have around 600 years left if we continue on our current path. He warned that unchecked population growth and escalating energy consumption could transform Earth into an uninhabitable “giant ball of fire.” Hawking emphasized the alarming pace at which the global population was increasing—doubling every 40 years back then.
In 2017, during the Tencent WE Summit, he elaborated on these concerns: “This exponential growth cannot continue into the next millennium. By the year 2600, the world’s population would be standing shoulder to shoulder, and the electricity consumption would make the Earth glow red-hot.” Such a situation, he declared, is unsustainable.
NASA, too, has acknowledged the dangers that Hawking warned about, particularly the threats to the Earth’s survival. “For more than 50 years, NASA has studied our home planet, providing information to directly benefit humanity and producing observations that can only be gathered in space,” they stated, highlighting some of the issues Hawking identified.
Hawking mentioned in a 2016 interview with the BBC that while the probability of a planetary disaster in any given year might be low, it’s almost certain to occur over the next thousand to ten thousand years. He noted global warming, climate change, and the greenhouse effect as potential culprits leading us toward disaster.
Moreover, he foresaw other significant threats, including pandemics, advancements in artificial intelligence, and nuclear warfare, all posing serious risks to our future. His reflections invite us to think deeply about the steps we can take to avert such catastrophic outcomes.
