Edinburgh, August 26 : A prize-winning novelist has warned that the planet is at a "crisis moment" and the human race could be headed towards extinction.

According to a report in the Scotsman, Margaret Atwood, who is the prize-winning author of 'The Blind Assassin and The Handmaid's Tale', sent out the warning during an RSPB Scotland fundraising dinner in Edinburgh.

"Although the cockroaches will always be fine, humans may not," according to the author.

Speaking to The Scotsman, Atwood said that she thinks the crisis involves climate change, deforestation, overfishing, declines in bird populations and production of energy.

She urged everyone to play their part in tackling climate change.

The 68-year-old, who lived in Edinburgh for a year in 1978, backed The Scotsman's 'Save Our Seas campaign', saying that the oceans are crucial for many reasons, from providing food to sustaining jobs.

"What people are really looking for is hope. If people knew what to do they would do it. We need the science to tell us what to do," she said.

"We need the will and the heart to enable us to do it," she added.

ANI