Environment Vocabulary

Coal – a hard, black substance that is dug from the earth in pieces, and can be burned to produce heat or power, or a single piece of this.

Sentence – Coal is becoming a rare commodity.

Fossil Fuels – fuels, such as gas, coal, and oil, that were formed underground from plant and animal remains millions of years ago.

Sentence – Environmentalists would like to see fossil fuels replaced by renewable energy sources.

Acid Rain – rain that contains large amounts of harmful chemicals as a result of burning substances such as coal and oil.

Sentence – Our discussion ranged over various topics, such as acid rain and the hole in the ozone layer.

Global Warming – a gradual increase in world temperatures caused by gases such as carbon dioxide that are collecting in the air around the earth and stopping heat escaping into space.

Sentence – Newspapers seized on the results as proof that global warming wasn’treally happening.

Carbon Dioxide – the gas formed when carbon is burned, or when people or animals breathe out.

Sentence – Plants absorb carbon dioxide from the air and moisture from the soil.

Greenhouse Effect – an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere (= mixture of gases around the earth), that is believed to be the cause of a gradual warming of the surface of the earth.

Sentence – They contribute 14 percent of the greenhouse effect and are increasing at the rate of 6 percent a year.

Burning Fossil – When fossil fuels are burned, they release nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere, which contribute to the formation of smog and acid rain.

Sentence – Building huge air-capture plants to reabsorb the carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels would be a perverse outcome.

Exhaust Fumes – gases ejected from an engine as waste products

Sentence – Among causes of air pollution, car exhaust fumes may be the worst offender.

Smog – a mixture of smoke, gases, and chemicals, especially in cities, that makes the atmosphere difficult to breathe and harmful for health.

Sentence – Eliminating the occurrence of first-stage smog alerts requires long-term reductions in the baseline pollution levels.

Climate – the general weather conditions usually found in a particular place.

Sentence – Few businesses are flourishing in the present economic climate.

Pollution – damage caused to water, air, etc. by harmful substances or waste.

Sentence – The fine was for the company’s pollution of the air near its plants.

Temperature – the measured amount of heat in a place or in the body.

Sentence – The temperature has risen five degrees.

Power Plants – a building where electricity is produced.

Sentence – He threatened to take over private power plants caught withholding electricity to drive up wholesale prices.

 Deforestation – he cutting down of trees in a large area, or the destruction of forests by people.

Sentence – Deforestation has been shown to cause floods and drought.

Landfill – the process of getting rid of large amounts of rubbish by burying it, or a place where rubbish is buried.

Sentence – But it’s becoming a major issue as landfill sites fill up.

Cattle – a group of animals that includes cows, buffalo, and bison, that are often kept for their milk or meat.

Sentence – The farm has both beef and dairy cattle.

Wind Turbine – a tall structure with blades that are blown round by the wind and produce power to make electricity.

Sentence – Today, modern versions of windmills, called wind turbines, are used to create electricity.

Renewable – Renewable forms of energy can be produced as quickly as they are used.

Sentence – Double government spending on renewable energy research.