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The evolutionary biologist, best known for his writings on atheism, made the comment on social media in response to a story in The independent on the extinction of the dinosaurs.
The article outlined a new study that claimed dinosaurs would have continued to thrive on our planet longer if a large asteroid hadn’t hit 66 million years ago.
This contradicts previous suggestions that large reptiles were already in steep decline prior to this event.
Using statistical models, researchers at the University of Bath and the Natural History Museum in London concluded that dinosaurs could have remained the “dominant group of terrestrial animals on the planet” if the asteroid’s collision hadn’t been so severe.
Its impact is thought to have caused earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions, leading to the extinction of dinosaurs and many other species.
Writing on Twitter, Dawkins predicted that a similar event would occur in the future and that it was humanity’s “responsibility” to protect itself from such a threat.
“A catastrophic impact like this will happen again. We don’t know when. Using existing science, we could develop technology to detect, intercept and deflect or destroy a large oncoming asteroid, ”he said.
“No other species could do that. It is our responsibility, ”Dawkins added.
His observations come less than a week after a low-altitude asteroid, about six meters in diameter, missed Earth by only 240 miles.
An asteroid would have to be 25 meters in size to cause local damage or more than a kilometer to have worldwide effects, according to NASA.
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