David Attenborough: The natural world is comforting in times of crisis

David Attenborough says the natural world can be a source of comfort during difficult times.

In a magazine interview he said: "The natural world produces the comfort that can come from nothing else. And we are part of the natural world."

The broadcaster was talking about the climate, and said the world was at an "unprecedented point".

"We're in an unprecedented situation. We know quite a lot about the history of the world. We go back 500 million years and there is no species with anything like the power Homo sapiens has over the natural world.

"The plain fact is that every mouthful of food you eat comes from the natural world. There's no food that nourishes you that doesn't come from the natural world. Every lungful of air that you take is refined by the natural world, oxygen breathed out by plants. If you can't breathe and you can't eat, you don't exist."

Speaking to the Big Issue, the 93-year-old added: "If we damage the world, we damage ourselves."

The broadcaster also said kids bring hope to the world: "Kids these days are knowledgeable, aware of what's happening, and are concerned. They are vocal. I haven't known a generation of children that could be placed alongside these today."