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Hello and welcome to 6 Minute
English from BBC Learning English.
I'm Beth and I'm Neil.
Today we're going to talk
about climate change
and how it can affect
people's mental health.
Natural disasters and the impacts
of climate change can be stressful.
Isn't that right, Beth?
Yeah, definitely.
In today's episode,
we're going to find out about how
people can protect their mental health
from the impacts of climate change.
We'll be hearing from a psychiatry
expert and a man who survived a wildfire
and helped rebuild his town.
But first,
Beth, I have a question for you.
Scientists aren't always sure
whether natural disasters like floods
and wildfires are as a result
of human-caused climate change.
But in January 2025, big wildfires
affected big parts of Los Angeles
in California.
But according to the research
organisation World Weather Attribution,
human-caused climate change made
the fires a) 10% more likely, b)
35% more likely,
or c) 20% less likely.
Um, I'm going to say 10% more likely.
OK, well, we'll find out the answer
at the end of the programme.
Now, natural disasters like floods
and wildfires can destroy homes
and communities.
People who live in areas affected by
natural disasters
can often experience climate trauma.
Trauma is what we call the very bad
and long lasting emotional effects
of an event or experience.
Professor Jyoti Mishra is an expert
in climate trauma
at the University of California.
She explained more about the
condition to Graihagh Jackson, host
of BBC World Service programme
The Climate Question.
Climate trauma is not
an individual trauma.
It's a community-wide trauma which
really requires community-wide healing.
Yeah, I'm really struck by
what you've said about the fact
that it's whole communities
that are affected, not individuals,
but also part of the solution is
about the community and
how it rebuilds and reknits together.
Absolutely, yes.
So we've found that
individuals who have a greater sense
of positive support from their family
and a greater sense of meaningful
connection with their community,
they are, in general more resilient.
Jyoti's research on climate trauma
has found that it affects communities
rather than individuals.
Host of the programme, Graihagh Jackson,
is struck by what Jyoti says.
If you're struck by an idea, you find it
particularly interesting or impressive.
Graihagh says that part
of the solution to climate trauma
could be in
how the community reknits together.
This means how the social connections
in a community are restored.
We can often describe a community as
close-knit, which means everyone helps
and supports each other.
Jyoti explains that having
a strong community also helps reduce
or heal climate trauma.
She says that research has found that
people who have a strong community
are more resilient when bad things
like natural disasters happen.
If you're resilient,
you're able to get better more easily
after something difficult
or bad happens.
One person who had to be resilient is
Brad Sherwood. He survived a wildfire
in Northern California
in 2017 called the Tubbs Fire.
But when he returned home,
his neighbourhood was destroyed.
Brad started to volunteer
for a local support network called
After the Fire to try
to rebuild his community.
As he explained to BBC World Service
programme The Climate Question.
The silver lining in all this?
I mean, if it wasn't for the
Tubbs Fire, we wouldn't be working
as a community right now
to build a new community plaza.
We were a close community
before the Tubbs,
but afterwards we are
so much stronger and resilient and I,
I think our children are as well.
They can jump over any hurdle.
Brad says that the work to rebuild
and improve his community is
the silver lining to the fire.
The expression silver lining means
a positive thing that comes
from a negative situation.
Brad's community became
more resilient after the fire,
including the children.
He says that they can jump
over any hurdle.
We can describe challenges or
difficult things in life as hurdles.
And it's quite inspiring, I think,
to hear how Brad has taken a bad
situation and tried to stay resilient.
Now, the organisation
that Brad volunteers for,
After the Fire, are helping those
impacted by the fires in LA in January.
Which reminds me, I asked you, Beth,
about the impacts of human-made
climate change on the wildfires in LA
in January.
And I said 10% more likely.
Which was,
I'm afraid, the wrong answer.
It was actually 35%.
Wow.
OK, well, let's recap
the vocabulary we've learned starting
with trauma,
which is what we call the very bad
and long-lasting emotional effects
of an event or experience.
If you're struck by an idea
or something someone has said,
you find it particularly interesting
or impressive.
If a community reknits together,
it becomes closer again,
and a close-knit community is where
everyone looks after each other.
Resilient means able to get better
more easily when bad things happen.
A silver lining is a positive thing
that comes from a negative situation.
And we can describe challenges or
difficult things in life as hurdles.
Once again, our six minutes are up,
but why not try the interactive quiz on
our website to test what you've learnt?
And we have a free worksheet as well.
Just visit bbclearningenglish.com
Thanks for listening and goodbye.
Bye.
Vocabulary
Word 1 of 15mental health
collocation
0:17
"the condition of a person's emotional and psychological wellbeing."
More Listening Practice
About this lesson
Explore the growing link between climate change and mental health conditions like anxiety and depression in this 6 Minute English episode.