[GrandJediMasterYoda]

...our fragile planet...

Oh you mean the planet that has been around for "B" for billions of years throughout meteor strikes, massive volcanoes, hurricanes, typhoons, nukes, and Justin Beiber yet is still around like a bunny on a warm spring day? Maybe the Professor can define for me the word "fragile" because if the earth is "fragile" I'd hate to see what his definition of "tough' is.

[dfwgator]

Besides, there is nothing wrong with the planet. Nothing wrong with the planet. The planet is fine. The PEOPLE are f----d. Difference. Difference. The planet is fine. Compared to the people, the planet is doing great. Been here four and a half billion years. Did you ever think about the arithmetic? The planet has been here four and a half billion years. We've been here, what, a hundred thousand? Maybe two hundred thousand? And we've only been engaged in heavy industry for a little over two hundred years. Two hundred years versus four and a half billion. And we have the CONCEIT to think that somehow we're a threat? That somehow we're gonna put in jeopardy this beautiful little blue-green ball that's just a-floatin' around the sun?

The planet has been through a lot worse than us. Been through all kinds of things worse than us. Been through earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, continental drift, solar flares, sun spots, magnetic storms, the magnetic reversal of the poles...hundreds of thousands of years of bombardment by comets and asteroids and meteors, worlwide floods, tidal waves, worldwide fires, erosion, cosmic rays, recurring ice ages...And we think some plastic bags, and some aluminum cans are going to make a difference? The planet...the planet...the planet isn't going anywhere. WE ARE! -George Carlin

[tired&retired]

“Maybe the Professor can define for me the word “fragile” because if the earth is “fragile” I’d hate to see what his definition of “tough’ is. “

The earth is fragile for the same reason that Sodom & Gomorrah were fragile.

[Moonman62]

Oh you mean the planet that has been around for "B" for billions of years throughout meteor strikes, massive volcanoes, hurricanes, typhoons, nukes, and Justin Beiber yet is still around like a bunny on a warm spring day? Maybe the Professor can define for me the word "fragile" because if the earth is "fragile" I'd hate to see what his definition of "tough' is.

You nailed it. Hawking is another example of how someone can be a genius in one field, but a total moron outside of it.