Do you have eco-anxiety? ⏲️ 6 Minute English

Hello. This is Six Minute English

from BBC Learning English.

I'm Neil.

And I'm Beth.

Switch on the TV or read a newspaper and

it's full of bad news about the environment.

But climate change is damaging more than just the planet's health.

It's affecting human health, too.

A growing number of people around the world are experiencing something

psychiatrists are calling eco-anxiety. Eco-anxiety involves feeling grief,

guilt, fear or hopelessness about the future of the planet

due to climate change. Of course

direct victims of climate change

suffer most. Flood survivors experience depression and anxiety

and people breathing polluted air are at a higher risk of dementia.

But according to the Institute of Psychiatrists, just reading

about the state of the planet in the news is causing stress and anxiety.

In this programme on eco-anxiety

we'll be learning some useful vocabulary related to this worrying topic

and hopefully be hearing some happier environmental news as well.

I hope so, Neil. With so much bad news

it's sometimes hard to feel optimistic about the future.

Well, here's a question about some good climate news

for a change. In Australia, an animal thought to be extinct

has been spotted for the first time in over 50 years,

but what is the animal? Is it

A. a shark , B. a lizard or C. a parrot?

Hmm. I'll guess it's a shark.

OK, Beth. I'll reveal the answer later.

Unsurprisingly, many of those suffering

from eco-anxiety are young people.

When BBC Radio 4 programme, Woman's Hour,

spoke with veteran environmentalist Judy Ling Wong,

they asked her if she was worried for young people today.

I have tremendous compassion for them

because what a mess

we have left the world in, our generation, and the generation before.

Of course, you know, the science is so advanced now...very much

in the past, the science would say,

yes we think, perhaps...we perhaps have this models...

now we have the exact science,

so it is an absolutely different ball game...

we actually know what to do now.

It is about getting on with it, and the young people

are the furthest ahead in this.

They can see the future as theirs and they're impassioned

to do something about it. Judy feels compassion,

a strong feeling of sympathy for young people and the wish

for them not to suffer. She blames older generations

and uses the phrase 'what a mess' to emphasise  

that the planet is in bad shape. You can use the phrase

'what a something' to intensify the thing you're talking about.

For example, if someone gives you a birthday present,

you might say 'What a nice surprise!'

But Judy is optimistic.

The science on climate change is much more accurate than it used to be.

For example, we know that moving away from fossil fuels would be a big help.

Science has changed the ball game –

the set of circumstances that controls how a situation occurs.

Knowing exactly how to stop climate change has impassioned young people.

They feel strongly motivated to take action.

And as it turns out, taking action may be one of the most powerful antidotes

to eco-anxiety. Actually doing something to combat climate change

reduces feelings of helplessness.

Here's Judy Ling Wong again, speaking with BBC

Radio 4's Woman's Hour.

When the Institute of Psychiatry

published its special issue on climate anxiety, one of the papers

pointed out is that if you can do something about it,

if you feel part of the movement to change things,

or to stabilise things, then you feel much better.

And also, you know, at the moment,

the government is trying to reach net zero

by 2050 and all that,

and they committed to creating two million new green jobs.

Now, if young people and activists think about this,

if you have a green job

you're actually dedicating your entire working life

to building a green sustainable future,

and that has a huge effect on your psychology.

Judy urges young people to join a movement –

a group of people who share the same beliefs and ideas.

Being part of the solution,

not the problem, helps reduce anxiety and with new green jobs,

young people can protect the environment

their entire working life –

the period of life spent in employment

between leaving school and retirement. And Judy's hopefulness is shared.

Recent polls showed that the majority of people are worried about climate change

and are prepared to make changes.

Finally, some good news,

and speaking of good news,

what was the answer to your question, Neil?

I asked which extinct animal has recently been spotted in Australia.

You guessed it was a shark, which was...

the wrong answer. Actually, it was a lizard –

the earless grassland dragon, a native to east Australia

that was last seen in the wild in 1969.

OK, let's recap the vocabulary

we have learned from this programme on eco-anxiety,

starting with compassion – a strong feeling of sympathy

and the wish for people not to suffer.

The phrase 'What a...something'

is used to intensify the thing you're talking about. For example.

'What a mess!' or 'What a nice surprise!'.

The ball game refers to the set of circumstances that controls

how a situation happens. If you're impassioned,

you're emotionally motivated to do something.

A movement is a group of people with the same beliefs, ideas and aims.

And finally, your working life is the period of life spent in employment,

between leaving school and retirement.

Once again, our six minutes are up.

Join us again next time here on Six Minute English.

Goodbye for now. Bye!