With over 500,00 followers within his first hour of signing up, British broadcaster and natural historian Sir David Attenborough got the social media platform Instagram buzzing.

The respected climate change advocate signed up to Instagram for the first time to help spread his environmental message.

“I am making this move… because, as we all know, the world is in trouble,” he said in his first video message on the social media platform.

“Continents are on fire. Glaciers are melting. Coral reefs are dying… The list goes on and on,” he continued.

The 94-year-old Britain’s favourite natural world specialist Instagram debut heralds the release of his latest book and Netflix documentary, both titled A Life On Our Planet.

The film sees him reflect on his career and the decline of the planet’s environment and biodiversity he has observed first-hand.

British Tennis player Andy Murray and body coach Joe Wicks were among those to welcome Attenborough to Instagram.

Sir David said he would use the platform to share videos explaining “what the problems are and how we can deal with them”.

He concluded his post by inviting viewers to “join him – or as we used to say in those early days of radio, stay tuned.”

The account will be managed by Jonnie Hughes and Colin Butfield.