Norway: Humans should fix the planet, not leave – Martin Rees disagrees with Hawking

Astronomer Royal Martin Rees spoke to the audience at the fourth Starmus Festival, at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), on Thursday, in which he disagreed with the theory presented by renowned physicist that humans should leave Earth for Mars.
Rees argued that Earth’s problems are far easier to solve than developing a new civilisation on another planet, saying, “I think he's [Hawking] spreading a dangerous delusion if he thinks Space offers an escape from Earth's problems. We have got to solve them here,” before going on to say, “Dealing with climate change on Earth is surely a doddle compared to terraforming Mars.”
When giving her talk about climate change and those who disagree with its existence, Atmospheric Scientist Katharine Hayhoe protested the influence on the general public on groups attempting to debunk climate change theory.
Explaining the central place that climate change plays in our world’s problems, Hayhoe explained, "If we want to fix poverty, hunger, lack of access to clean water, diseases that nobody should be dying from in this year. And if we leave Climate Change out of the picture, it's like pouring all of our money and our efforts into a bucket with a hole in it, and that hole is climate change, and that hole is getting bigger and bigger."
As she left the stage, Hayhoe received a standing ovation from the audience.