IELTS Vocabulary Related to Environmental Issues

What does "mitigation" refer to in the context of environmental science?

• Increasing the effects of climate change

• Reducing the severity of something, especially climate change

• Ignoring the impacts of global warming

• Enhancing the use of fossil fuels

What is the goal of decarbonization?

• To increase carbon emissions

• To maintain current levels of carbon emissions

• To reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere

• To eliminate the use of all energy sources

What does "contamination" mean in an environmental context?

• The process of removing toxins from water

• The introduction of harmful substances into the environment

• Increasing the cleanliness of a particular area

• The act of preserving natural habitats

What is "environmental degradation"?

What does it mean for a process or company to be "carbon neutral"?

• To produce an excessive amount of carbon emissions

• To have no plan for managing carbon emissions

• To offset the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere with an equivalent amount of carbon sequestration

• To increase the global carbon footprint

What does "ecological footprint" measure?

• The amount of natural resources an individual or population consumes

• The number of animals in a specific ecosystem

• The total land area of a country

• The amount of water used by factories

In environmental contexts, what does "resilience" refer to?

• The ability to be easily harmed by climate change

• The capacity of an ecosystem to respond to a disturbance by resisting damage and recovering quickly

• The process of releasing more pollutants into the environment

• Decreasing biodiversity in a specific area

What is the main cause of global warming?

Ozone layer is ...

• The rise of air temperatures near Earth's surface.

• a layer in the upper atmosphere that prevents dangerous radiation from the sun from reaching the surface of the Earth.

• used to describe a type of animal or plant that has become very rare and that could die out completely.

• a very large area of ice that moves slowly down a slope or valley or over a wide area of land.

Sounds that are loud, disruptive and unhealthy.

• air pollution

• noise pollution

• soil pollution

• water pollution