6 Nuit English From the BBC

Hello, this is 6 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 sea, a parrot?

I'll guess it's a shark.

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

...