This content introduces essential English vocabulary for discussing environmental issues, emphasizing the impact of human actions on the planet and the importance of taking action to protect it.
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hi everyone mina-san konnichiwa would
you like to learn how to talk about the
environment in English the environment
is a very important topic that has been
in the news a lot lately and you can
hear things such as global warming
climate change and so on
welcome to Jen's jugo my name is Jen and
today I'm going to teach you some useful
vocabulary that you can use to talk
about the environment this is vocabulary
that you can hear on the news a lot
vocabulary that has been at the center
of some political platforms and
vocabulary that is usually on tests like
the IELTS test or TOEFL test so get
ready to learn about the environment
when we talk about the environment in
English what we are referring to is the
world the globe and how nature and
natural processes are being affected by
humans okay so when we talk about the
environment it specifically is talking
about how humans are interacting with
and changing the atmosphere and changing
the world around them so environment is
a noun and there are two adjectives that
we often use with the word environment
one of them is environmental
environmental is an adjective connected
to the environment we specifically use
this word with environmental issues
talking about the problems that exist
within the environment and this is where
you will hear the words such as global
warming or climate change or pollution
the other adjective that we make from
environment is environmentally
environmentally is also an adjective
from environment and we specifically use
this adjective when we talk about
something being environmentally friendly
right so recycling is
usually seen as environmentally friendly
something that is good for the
environment there's one other noun
connected to environment as well and
this is an environmentalist
environmentalist an environmentalist is
a person who really cares about the
environment and wants to do all that
they can to raise awareness of
environmental issues a very famous
environmentalist who's been in the news
lately is the sweetest girl Greta
Sundberg I'll talk to a little bit more
about her later in the lesson one of the
biggest environmental issues these days
is pollution pollution is what is
contributing to a lot of major
environmental issues pollution basically
means all of the waste the garbage the
rubbish that is being produced some
major things that are connected to
pollution are smog okay smog is similar
to fog but basically it is pollution
thick pollution that is in the air and
it makes it hard for you to breathe it
makes the air quality decrease another
environmental issue is deforestation
deforestation is cutting down many many
trees you might have heard the
expression clear-cutting which is when
forest companies wood companies go and
they just cut down huge areas of forest
which is very bad for the environment
because we need trees another issue is
acid rain all of the air pollution that
we are creating is getting sucked into
the water cycle so when it rains there
are chemicals such as carbon dioxide and
acid in the rain which is causing things
to break down to deteriorate which is
bad for the environment one of the other
really big environmental issues caused
from pollution is climate change
okay so climate change means that there
is so much pollution in the environment
that the weather all around the world is
changing temperatures are becoming much
colder or much hotter than usual usually
much hotter than the type of climate
change where the weather is becoming
hotter and hotter all the time is called
global warming global warming is all
across the world temperatures are rising
icebergs are melting sea levels are
rising and it's having a major impact on
humans and also animals natural habitats
are being destroyed and there are more
disasters occurring as a result habitats
means a place where someone lives so the
natural habitat of animals is being
destroyed by climate change global
warming and pollution scientifically
global warming is occurring as a result
of toxic toxic means poisonous toxic
gases being released into the
environment which is causing these
changes so some of these toxic gases we
often refer to them as greenhouse gases
and one of the biggest greenhouse gases
is caused by carbon dioxide carbon
dioxide is produced when fossil fuels
are being burned fossil fuels means a
type of energy natural energy such as
gas or oil that is being used so when
you're using things like gas or oil they
are called fossil fuel and when you use
them they are putting gas into the
atmosphere which is creating pollution I
mentioned that one of the biggest gases
that is part of these greenhouse gases
is carbon dioxide and this is where the
expression carbon footprint comes in
maybe you have heard the expression
carbon footprint in the news
so footprint is when you are walking
specifically on sand or mud you leave a
impression of your foot in the soil
right it's a footprint you're leaving
that footprint behind as you continue on
your way so this is where the idea of
carbon footprint comes from carbon
footprint means the amount of pollution
that you are personally responsible for
if the amount of fossil fuels gases and
other pollution that you are personally
creating is called your carbon footprint
because it is what you are leaving
behind the results of your actions are
being left behind for future generations
your actions affect the environment for
everyone so one way to reduce your
carbon footprint is by walking or riding
your bicycle instead of taking a car I
mentioned before the environmental
activists from Sweden the young 16 year
old girl
Greta Sundberg she refuses to fly in an
airplane because she wants to reduce her
carbon footprint right she's very
concerned about how much her actions are
impacting the environment through that
example of not taking an airplane and
using a boat instead not taking a car
but walking or riding your bike or
taking public transit instead these
actions help to reduce emissions to
reduce something needs to make it less
so specifically you are making the
amount of gas that you produce less the
amount of fossil fuels that you are
burning should be decreased many
companies should work harder to reduce
emissions another great way to reduce
emissions is by using renewable energy
renewable energy specifically refers to
types of energy that you are using that
are not depleted they're not
used up when you are using them so
renewable energy includes things such as
solar power and wind power a non
renewable sources include things such as
fossil fuels like coal or oil or gas so
why should we care about all these
environmental issues why should we
listen to environmentalists this is
because your actions today have an
impact impact means effect on right so
an impact or an effect on not just
people now but also future generations
the people who are continuing to live
after you in addition it also affects
and has an impact on wildlife animals
and plants many animals have become
endangered as a result of pollution
endangered means that they are in danger
of becoming extinct some species of
plants and animals have already become
completely extinct extinct means that
they no longer exist they are gone
forever if you don't want to see more
plants and animals becoming endangered
and extinct if you don't want the human
race to become extinct you need to care
about the environment in Canada we have
something called the 3 R's that are
taught to children in school and these 3 R's
R's
are what you should remember to try and
think about protecting the environment
the 3 R's are reduce reuse and recycle
so reduce use less of things single-use
plastics bad idea use a cloth bag
instead of a plastic bag when you go to
the grocery store reduce the second R is
reuse this means that when something is
finished don't just throw it away find
another use for it see how you can really
really
use that item and the third R is recycle
don't just put paper and plastic and
cardboard in the garbage in most places
there is a special recycling area for
those items so today you learned a lot
of different vocabulary all about the
environment hopefully this vocabulary
will help you to understand the news
more understand some political
discussions which may be happening
around you and if you're taking a test
like IELTS or TOEFL this vocabulary will
probably most definitely be on that test
so I recommend reviewing the vocabulary
from today's lesson and now it's time
for question of the day today's question
is what can you do to save and protect
the environment what can you do to
reduce your carbon footprint let me know
what actions you can take in the
comments below thank you so much for
watching this video if you found it
useful please subscribe to my channel
and give this video a thumbs up
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