Original version

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

Discovery

Documentaries

Factual: Science & Nature

Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

Discovery: Ecological grief

Magazines & Reviews

Ecological grief

20/01/2020 GMT

BBC World Service - Discovery, Ecological griefSearch BBC

How is climate change affecting people's mental health?

Gaia Vince explores the growing impact of ecological grief, and how climate change is affecting people's mental health.

As the Earth experiences more extreme weather, and wildlife is dying, from corals, to insects, to tropical forests, more people are experiencing ecological anxiety and grief. Science journalist Gaia Vince has been reporting on the growing crisis across our planet’s ecosystems, and has met many who are shocked and saddened by the enormity of the environmental changes taking place. She talks to scientists and medics working at the frontline of environmental change, and hears that, despite being expected to distance themselves from what’s happening, they are affected emotionally. 

Ashlee Consulo, of Memorial University on the Canadian island of Labrador, and Courtney Howard, a doctor in Yellowknife, tell Gaia about their experiences of living and working with indigenous peoples in areas where temperatures are rising rapidly and the ice is melting. 

Steve Simpson of Exeter University and Andy Radford of Bristol University are both professors of biology who have watched coral reefs become devastated by climate change. Recently they wrote a letter to the journal Science headlined Grieving environmental scientists need support to raise awareness of the issues researchers are facing. 

And Gaia visits the aquarium at the Horniman Museum in London, where Jamie Craggs is trying to breed corals for future generations. 

Image: Greenland Inuit hunter (Credit: Earl Grad/Getty Images)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Discovery

Ecological grief

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

About BBC World Service