Astrophysicist Stephen Hawking joined Larry King to discuss some of the major issues facing humanity. According to Hawking, the most glaring issue facing humanity is air pollution coupled with the ever looming threat of human greed and stupidity.
Hawking was being interviewed from the Canary Islands, where he was being honored at the Starmus festival.
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On Larry King Live, King began the interview asking the science genius, “Stephen when we last spoke six years ago, you said that mankind was in danger of destroying ourselves by our greed and stupidity. Have things gotten better or worse since then?”
Hawking replied, “We certainly have not become less greedy or less stupid. Six years ago I was warning about pollution and overcrowding. They have gotten worse since then.”
Hawking also considered the ever-growing population as a great threat to society. He stated, “The population has grown by half a billion since our last meeting with no end in sight. At this rate, it will be 11 billion by 2100. Air pollution has increased over the past five years. More than 80% of inhabitants of urban areas are exposed to unsafe levels of air pollution.”
King then asked Hawking, “Stephen, what’s the biggest problem facing humanity today?”
Hawking then responded that the biggest threat to society was “the increase in air pollution and the emission of increasing levels of carbon dioxide.” Hawking then concluded by posing the question,”Will we be too late to avoid dangerous levels of global warming?”
It’s safe to say that if the genius astrophysicist Stephen Hawking is concerned by these issues that there is likely some merit to the threat, and that these issues should be taken seriously.
To check out more from Larry King’s interview with Stephen Hawking, click here.
