Name: BOX SET: 6 Minute English - 'Climate change 2' English mega-class! 30 minutes of new vocab!
Uploaded: 2026-01-19T17:46:07.000Z
Duration: 30 min 28 s
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Six Minute English from BBC Learning English.

Hello, this is Six Minute English from BBC Learning English.

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.

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 program 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.

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.

Is it A, a shark, B, a lizard, or C, a parrot?

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

Unsurprisingly, many of those suffering from eco anxiety are young people.

When BBC Radio 4 program Woman's Hour spoke with veteran environmentalist Judy Ling Wong, they asked her if she was worried for young people today.

I put 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 was, yes, we think perhaps, we perhaps have this modern.

So it is an absolutely different ball game.

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 emphasize 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.

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 Women's Hour.

You know, when the Institute of Psychiatry published a 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 stabilize 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're committed to creating 2 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.

Recent polls show that the majority of people are worried about climate change and are prepared to make changes.

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've learned from this program on eco anxiety, starting with compassion, a strong feeling of sympathy, and

The phrase what a something is used to intensify the thing you're talking about.

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.

Join us again next time here on Six Minute English.

Many of those leading the fight against climate change are young people who feel betrayed by politicians and adults.

In survey after survey, children report feeling that they have no future, that humanity is doomed, and

This is causing many young people to feel worried about the state of the planet.

There's even a name for it, climate anxiety.

And it's also creating conflict between adults and children in families and schools.

What's certain is that a solution to the climate emergency needs the cooperation of everyone, both old and young.

So can talking honestly about the climate help mend the divisions between generations?

That's what we'll be discussing in this program, along with some useful new vocabulary.

But first, I have a question for you, Neil.

Many young people's hopes and fears about climate change are symbolized by the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.

These days, Greta travels the world speaking about the climate emergency, but

her protests started much smaller in her hometown, Stockholm.

So how did Greta Thunberg's climate activism begin?

Did she A, plant trees in her school garden, B, skip school on Fridays, or C, recycle her school's plastic waste?

I think Greta Thunberg went on strike and skipped school on Fridays.

Ok, Neil, I will reveal the correct answer later in the program.

One recent survey showed that three quarters or more of young people in the UK feel the future is frightening.

Here, Immy, aged 14, and Millie, 11, share some of their fears with BBC Ideas.