Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking said the chances of cataclysmic events which may have a bad impact on the survival of humanity are high and it's humans who are to be blamed for such a scenario.

While recording the annual BBC Reith lectures, the famous physicist claimed that the occurrence of the disaster in planet Earth in the coming 1,000 to 10,000 years is almost certain.

However, he also insisted that humanity will probably survive, because by the time the disaster will strike, humans shall have made colonies on other worlds.

Prof. Hawking said that, however, humans aren't going to establish self-sustaining colonies in space for at least the coming century, thus the natives of Earth have to stay very alert during this period.

The threats specified by Hawking included global warming, nuclear war, and genetically engineered viruses, suggesting that science and technology progress is in some ways a gamble, which is improving billions of lives but at the same time also introducing the means to end humanity.

This is not a new debate as the idea that a man's advancement may be his very undoing has been there for decades, centuries.

The British economist and demographer Thomas Malthus wrote in 1798, "The vices of mankind are active and able ministers of depopulation. They are the precursors in the great army of destruction; and often finish the dreadful work themselves".

Geographer William B. Meyer wrote in 1996 that if one considers 'Human Impact on Earth', humankind has become a force in the biosphere which has equivalent power as that of a number of natural forces of change, is stronger than some, and at times as mindless as any.

Meyer added that nature has taken retirement from the construction or demolition business, but in the recent past humankind has emerged as a strong competitor.