Stephen Hawking’s warning about the imminent end of the world is starting to feel all too real.

Before his passing, one of the world’s most famous scientists made a rather bleak prediction about the future of our planet.

In his book The Theory of Everything, Hawking suggested that humanity has about 600 years left to make significant changes.

Before his death in 2018, he cautioned that if we don't take action, factors such as population growth and rising energy consumption could turn the Earth into a “giant ball of fire.”

At the time, the physicist pointed out that the world’s population was doubling every 40 years.

He elaborated during the Tencent WE Summit in 2017: “This exponential growth cannot continue into the next millennium.”

He predicted that by the year 2600, the population would be so dense that people would be packed shoulder to shoulder, and electricity consumption would make the planet glow red-hot.

“This is unsustainable,” he warned.

NASA responded to these concerns, noting that the agency had been studying Earth for over 50 years, gathering vital information to benefit humanity. Their space-based observations also addressed many of the issues Hawking highlighted.

As Hawking told the BBC in 2016, “While the likelihood of a disaster striking Earth in any given year might be low, the cumulative risk over time makes it nearly inevitable within the next thousand or 10,000 years.”

He attributed this growing threat to climate change, the greenhouse effect, and global warming.

Hawking also predicted that nuclear war, artificial intelligence, and pandemics would be major risks to the planet’s future.

It’s clear now—his predictions have never felt more urgent!