At a Glance

Physicist Stephen Hawking has said he believes humans will need to find a new home within 100 years.This summer, Hawking will present his theory in a BBC documentary.

Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking has long held thathumans only have 100 years to find a new planet. This summer, he will present his theory in a BBC documentary.

According to the BBC, the documentary"" will air as part of its Tomorrow’s World season and will explore Hawking's theory that "isn’t as fantastical as it sounds."

For years, the 74-year-old genius has warned that threats including climate change, destruction from nuclear war and genetically engineered viruses puthumankind in grave danger.

"Professor Stephen Hawking thinks the human species will have to populate a new planet within 100 years if it is to survive," the BBC said. "With climate change, overdue asteroid strikes, epidemics and population growth, our own planet is increasingly precarious."

"In this landmark series, Expedition New Earth, he enlists engineering expert Danielle George and his own former student, Christophe Galfard, to find out if and how humans can reach for the stars and move to different planets."

(MORE:)

While Hawking holds fast to his theory, he says there is still hope if humans can find a way to colonize another planet.

“We must also continue to go into space for the future of humanity,” Hawking said during a 2016 speechat Britain’s Oxford University Union.

“Although the chance of a disaster on planet Earth in a given year may be quite low, it adds up over time, becoming a near certainty in the next thousand or ten thousand years...by that time we should have spread out into space, and to other stars, so it would not mean the end of the human race" .

Hawking's prediction has drastically changed since November, when he predicted that we had at least 1,000 years before we need to pack up and get off the planet we've always called home.

MORE ON WEATHER.COM:Exoplanets