Environmental Vocabulary: Key Terms and Phrases

Essential Environmental Terms

• Renewable Energy: Alternative energy (energía renovable)
• Exhaust Fumes: Smoke or gas expelled through an engine's pipe (gases contaminantes)
• Drought: Absence of rain (sequía)
• Landfills: A place where garbage is placed (vertedero)
• Global Warming: General heating of the environment; the increase in the Earth's temperature (calentamiento global)
• Waste (verb): To spend carelessly or inefficiently (malgastar)
• Waste (noun): Rubbish; unwanted materials (basura)
• Source: Origin, beginning (fuente)
• Environmentalist: Ecologista
• Wildlife: Flora and fauna; animals in nature (vida salvaje)
• Solar Power: Energy produced by the sun
• Litter: Garbage, rubbish, waste (basura)
• Greenhouse Effect: The cause of global warming
• Water Shortage: When there isn't enough water (escasez de agua)
• Smog: Pollution, fog (contaminación por niebla)
• Carbon Footprint: Layer produced by pollution placed in the atmosphere
• Auction: Sale with bids (subasta)
• Drilling: Perforation
• Pristine: Pure, natural
• Bid: When you make an offer in an auction (puja)
• Pass Sentence: When a law is approved in Parliament (aprobar una ley)

Legal and Actionable Environmental Phrases

• Mean: Intend, signify (significar)
• Trial: Judicial examination of a crime (juicio)
• To Convict: To pronounce someone guilty of a crime (culpar)
• To Face Up: Confront (enfrentarse)
• Evicted: Removed; thrown out
• To Disrupt: Interrupt with bad behavior
• To Owe: To have a debt (deuda)
• To Be Charged with a Crime: To be accused of having committed a crime (acusado)
• Turn Into: Become, transform (convertir)
• Underestimate: To consider someone below you (infravalorar)
• Jail: Prison (cárcel)
• To Support: To back up (apoyar)
• Offense: A violation or breach of a law, custom, or rule

Phrasal Verbs Related to Environmental Actions

• Bring About: Produce, cause (provocar)
• Bring Down: Reduce (reducir)
• Bring Up: Mention
• Bring Round: Convince (convencer)
• Bring Out: Produce (producir)
• Avoid: Escape (evitar)
• Cut Down: Reduce (reducir)
• Supply: Provide (proveer)
• Damaged: Harm (dañino)
• Wipe Out: Eliminate, destroy (destruir)
• Exploit: Use unfairly (explotar)
• Dump: Rubbish tip
• Ban: Prohibition
• Dispose Of: Throw away
• Leak: Hole that allows the accidental escape or entrance of fluid
• Replace: Put back in place (reemplazar)
• Use Up: Use completely
• Threaten: Menace (amenazar)
• Pollute: Contaminate (contaminar)