The UK Guardian has published an article titled, “Aliens may destroy humanity to protect other civilizations, scientists say.” The subtitle is, “Rising greenhouse gas emissions could tip off aliens that we are a rapidly expanding threat, warns a report.”
According to the Guardian: “Watching from afar, extraterrestrial beings might view changes in Earth’s atmosphere as symptomatic of a civilization growing out of control—and take drastic action to keep us from becoming a more serious threat, the researchers explain.”
The “scientists” making such claims are affiliated with NASA and Penn State University, according to the Guardian.
“`Green’ aliens might object to the environmental damage humans have caused on Earth and wipe us out to save the planet,” the Guardian summarizes.
“These scenarios give us reason to limit our growth and reduce our impact on global ecosystems. It would be particularly important for us to limit our emissions of greenhouse gases, since atmospheric composition can be observed from other planets,” the authors wrote in the study, which was published in the journal Acta Astronautica, from the International Academy of Astronautics.
James M. Taylor ([email protected]) is managing editor of Environment & Climate News.