IELTS HOPECO Vocabulary: Environment 4

• Irradiation: A process that uses radiation to reduce or destroy bacteria and germs in food products in order to prevent illnesses and to lengthen the shelf life of the products. Some people are unsure of the long-term health effects of irradiated food.
   
• Landfill: A landfill is an area designated to receive household garbage, solid waste and construction debris. Also referred to as a garbage dump.

• Methane: An odourless, colourless, flammable gas formed when organic matter decomposes. More than 80% of methane comes from human activities such as burning fossil fuels.
   
• Nuclear energy: Energy produced by the process of nuclear reaction (fission or fusion) inside a nuclear reactor or by radioactive decay.
   
• Oilrig:             Structure used in drilling for oil or gas.
   
• Organic: General term used for a type of gardening or agriculture using no chemical or synthetic fertilizers or pesticides.
   
• Pesticide: Substance that repels or kills plant or animal pests. Herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, etc. are all pesticides.

• Plume: A visible or measurable concentration of a contaminant from a given point of origin.
   
• Pollution: Contamination of the air, water or soil with substances that can cause harm to human health or the environment.
   
• Recycling: The process of minimising waste by recovering materials and transforming them into new products.
   
• Septic tank: An  underground storage tank for waste from homes not connected to a municipal sewer system.
   
• Smog:             Originally smog meant a mixture of smoke and fog. Today it is used for any kind of pollution found in cities, including dust, smoke, exhaust gases or chemical fumes.

• Surface water: Water above the surface of the earth including lakes, rivers, seas, streams, ponds, floodwater, etc.
   
• Sustainable development: Economic development which ensures that the use of resources and the environment today does not compromise the needs of future generations.
   
• Volatile: Any substance that evaporates quickly.
   
• Waste: Anything that is unwanted or unused and is thrown away.
   
• Wetlands: Areas of marshy or swampy ground, or any land area that tends to be regularly wet or flooded. Wetlands are among the most fertile, natural ecosystems in the world and often host plants, birds and animals specially adapted to life in very wet conditions.

• Wind farm: Large open site on which a number of wind turbines generate wind power electricity for private or commercial use.
   
• Wind turbine: A device for converting wind energy into electrical energy. A wind turbine has typically one, two or three blades.