David Attenborough was trending on Twitter for this reason and people got very worried

Seeing a beloved celebrity’s name on the Twitter trending bar is enough to strike fear into the heart of any fan.

We’ve had too many shocks in recent years: Alan Rickman, Prince, Carrie Fisher…

By now everyone knows that the whispers of a celeb’s passing will reach Twitter first – and the trending tab.

So, naturally, the sight of David Attenborough – the nation’s 93 year-old grandpa – in pride of place on the trending bar this morning caused some fans to worry.

Coincidentally, fellow icon Patrick Stewart was also trending this morning, which left some feeling doubly concerned.

Luckily, both the legends are confirmed alive and were actually making headlines for completely different reasons.

Patrick Stewart had spoken of his upset with Brexit at the launch of a new Star Trek spin off, starring the character Jean-Luc Picard, a role he has played since 1987.

At the launch he called Brexit the “saddest, grimmest thing” that had happened since he began involvement in politics.

Meanwhile, Attenborough earned his trending spot thanks to a fresh warning about climate change.

Speaking to BBC News, the naturalist said that humans were in a “moment of crisis” and couldn’t keep putting off action on tackling global warming.

"As I speak, south east Australia is fire. Why? Because the temperatures of the Earth are increasing,” Attenborough warned.

We can't go on saying 'but there is hope and we'll leave it till next year'.

We have to change. And we have to change - not by appeals to different kinds of optimism but to deliberate, compelling life or death decisions.

The broadcaster has actively been campaigning for change on climate policies in the last few years, most recently speaking to teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg about the issue, for a special edition of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, edited by the 17 year-old. His comments in a BBC News interview to launch a year of special coverage on the subject of climate change, Our Planet Matters.

So David is fine… but the planet is very much not. Mixed bag, really.

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