It's not often I get to fact-check the great Stephen Hawking.

From myway news, relevant text emphasis mine:

HONG KONG (AP) - The survival of the human race depends on its ability to find new homes elsewhere in the universe because there's an increasing risk that a disaster will destroy the Earth, world-renowned scientist Stephen Hawking said Tuesday.

Well, not exactly. Since the formation of our solar system, it has always been a near certainty that at some point in the future, our sun will either go nova or simply burn out. Either scenario does not bode well for the survival of any life on earth.

So there's not an increasing risk that a disaster will destroy the Earth. How soon a disaster will destroy the Earth is another question entirely...

The mischaracterization may be myway's or the AP's, not Hawking's, so don't go showing up at his house with pitchforks and torches, folks. :)

[H/T 2 Drudge.]