IELTS Vocabulary: Climate Change

Collocations for Climate

 Inhospitable (=not kind)

 severe
 mild (=not hot/not cold)
 hot
 tropical
Collocations for Weather

 Extreme
 changeable
 good
 beautiful
 atrocious=terrible=awful
 awful
 dismal=gloomy: ảm đạm
 fair
We can also describe the weather as….
 nippy =cold
 chilly =quite cold
 bone dry =very dry
Weather – is more about short term changes – Weather tells you what to wear each
day.
Climate – is more about longer term changes – Climate tells you what types of
clothes to have in your wardrobe!
Here are key phrases and ideas you will need to know to talk confidently about
Climate Change.
Global Warming – An increase in the global average temperature on earth
Climate Change – the change in general weather conditions on the earth over a
long period of time.
For example, we see more extreme weather nowadays, such as storms, tornadoes,
and floods than in the past.
Gas emissions – the production of gases like carbon dioxide (CO2), and methane
(CH4).

Vocabulary and speaking test of IELTS by Do Dinh Thang (0986023617) page 1

The Greenhouse effect – greenhouse gases trap heat from the sun in the
atmosphere. The heat cannot escape and so the planet gets hotter.
Fossil fuels – non-renewable fuels, e.g. coal, carbon, oil, gas
Deforestation – the cutting down of trees on a large scale
Habitats – where animals and plants live
An ecosystem – a community of living things connected to their environment
A Carbon footprint – the number of greenhouse gases produced by any person or
organization’s activity.
I can reduce my carbon footprint by using less electricity at home.
Renewable energies – water (hydro), wind, sun (solar)
Try to solve / tackle / address climate change / global warming
We need to tackle climate change head-on (=directly)
Mitigate climate change (=reduce, alleviate, minimize)
When it comes to answering questions, you can use the following expressions to
show off your language.
I am by no means an expert, but…
I don’t know a great deal about this but…

Debates and Discussions about Climate Change

Causes of Climate Change
Here are some useful phrases you can use to discuss the causes of Climate Change.
 The main human cause is probably the burning of fossil fuels, like coal, oil,
and gas for electricity, heat, and transportation.
 When we use cars, planes, and other forms of transport we burn fossil fuels
and emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere
 The exhaust fumes from cars produce CO2
 When we use electricity at home, we are most likely burning fossil fuels and
so producing greenhouse gases which cause global warming.
 Deforestation is a major cause of climate change. Trees take in CO2 and
produce oxygen, so when we cut down trees this stored CO2 is released.
 Also, as there are fewer trees, this balance of CO2 and oxygen is lost.
 Tree roots hold the soil together and keep the soil fertile. Without trees the
land is less farmable, and also the soil moves leading to both landslides (lở
đất) and possible drought (hạn hán).

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  Farming, including raising livestock (gia súc-cattle) (e.g. cows, sheep, and
goats) produces harmful greenhouse gases because cows emit methane
gas when they fart (when they defecate).
 When farmers use this as fertilizer, it is also emitting more greenhouse gases
into the atmosphere.
 Apparently, the fashion industry that pushes us to buy new clothes every
season, produces vast amounts of greenhouse gases.
 These come from the processes needed to produce the fabrics (vải sợi),
especially man-made ones, and also the transportation needed for
the complex supply chains.
 Did you know a shirt made of man-made polyester has twice the carbon
footprint of a cotton shirt?
 Such consumerism (chủ nghĩa tiêu thụ) also leads to huge amounts of waste
and non-biodegradable (phân hủy sinh học) fabrics that damage the
environment.
Is Climate Change a problem?
 In the past, the climate occurred in regular cycles and it used to rain during a
particular season but now, it rains heavily any time and this is leading
to floods.
 The Ozone layer is being depleted (cạn kiệt) due to daily increasing CO2
emissions.
 Such gaps in the Ozone layer mean the sun’s harmful rays (tia mặt trời gây
hại) are doing more damage to the planet.
 The polar ice sheet is melting (thawing out) and the sea levels are rising.
 We are disrupting the balance in the ecosystem
 It leads to the melting of the polar ice sheets
 It leads to the destruction of wildlife and their habitats
 Some species are becoming extinct
 It might lead to sea-level rise which in turn causes damage to coastal regions.
 The earth is getting hotter and hotter and so there are more droughts
which has a devastating impact on (tác động tiêu cực) farming and
the livelihood of local communities.
 At the same time, we are experiencing increasingly adverse and extreme
weather conditions. Floods and flooding (sự ngập lụt) are more and more
commonplace.
 When we have floods, contagious diseases (bệnh lây nhiễm) can spread like
wildfire.
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  Farmers face problems due to soil erosion and so use artificial
fertilizers which can cause water and air pollution.
Solutions to Climate Change
 We can change the way we travel, opting for public transport and avoiding
travel by plane whenever possible.
 We can eat less meat, and so reduce the demand for livestock and cattle (gia
súc)><castle: lâu đài .
 We can shop locally, so food supply chains do not need excessive travel by
train, boat, or plane.
 By and large, we should consume less, whether it be for electrical appliances
or clothes. We shouldn’t be a victim of fast fashion.
 We can also consume less electricity at home, by using energy-saving
bulbs and be more careful to turn off lights and save energy.

IELTS speaking part 1

Examiner: Is the environment a big concern in your country?

Climate change is a topic on everyone’s lips in my country but only in a theoretical

sense. I don’t see citizens or the government taking steps to reduce the ravages
(destruction) of climate change.

Examiner: What steps do you and your family take to protect the
environment?

Well, we are looking into purchasing a hybrid car, for one thing. My partner uses
the car quite a bit for work so it is important we do not have a large carbon
footprint. It goes without saying that we recycle anything we can and we also use
fabric bags when we go shopping to reduce the amount of plastic waste we produce.

Examiner: Has the environment in your region changed since you were
younger?

Every summer it feels like the sun is getting hotter and hotter and the climate is
nothing like it used to be. My country relies heavily on farming and I know farmers
are increasingly concerned about how climate change is affecting their growing
season and their yields. It is predicted that regions that were once too cold to grow
certain crops will soon be able to.

Vocabulary and speaking test of IELTS by Do Dinh Thang (0986023617) page 4

IELTS speaking part 2(cue card)

Describe a person you know who is doing something to protect the

environment

You should say

 Who this person is

 What this person is doing to protect the environment
 How easy/difficult it is for him/her to do this

And explain how you feel about what this person is doing to protect the
environment

Sample

I think everyone nowadays is doing their part to some degree to protect the
environment but one person I know really does more than her fair share. This is my
friend Eva, who is more eco-conscious than most people I think.

When we were in school, Eva campaigned to get a compost bin placed in our
school yard so that the gardening club would have natural fertilizer. She was very
concerned about chemical fertilizers contaminating groundwater.

Students, parents and teachers brought their vegetable scraps/matters (small

pieces) to be composted and it worked! We had an endless supply of non-chemical
compost for our garden. She started using reusable cups and bottles long before
they were popular and I don’t think I have ever seen her carry a plastic bag.

Nowadays, she is part of a neighborhood clean- up group that removes rubbish

from our local parks and beaches. She grows organic vegetables in her garden
and commutes to work with her bicycle every day. Her house uses solar panels for
heating and she even makes her own household cleaning products.

Eva never complains about these activities being time-consuming or difficult; she
just feels she is doing what she can to be environmentally conscious. So, Eva is a
person not doing just one thing to protect the environment, but in fact following

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a green lifestyle in order to live more sustainably. I admire her and her efforts and
she is truly a role model for all of us to try to emulate(=follow/copy).

IELTS speaking part 3

What are some things ordinary people (người thường) can do to protect the
environment?

There are small and more significant actions people can take to protect the
environment. Whenever there is a choice between a conventional product(sản
phẩm thông thường) or more environmentally friendly one, we should always
choose the latter. Light bulbs is one small example. The energy saving ones might
be a little more expensive but the benefits are worth it.

We also need to think about some of our other choices that contribute to fuel
emissions. Switching to hybrid or electric cars is one obvious answer but what
about air travel in general? What about the products we consume? We need to
think about the food miles behind what we eat and make every effort to eat local
food.

What are some ways in which industries damage the environment?

Unfortunately, industries destroy the environment in a variety of ways. Factories

use fossil fuels to run machines and the smoke and carbon monoxide released lead
to air pollution. Factories dispose of their waste in nearby waterways, creating
water pollution.

This in turn affects the entire ecosystem as sea animals and the birds and other
animals that eat them suffer as a result. Even the noise from industries affect the
environment. Many animals abandon their natural habitat once a factory is built,
creating an imbalance in the ecosystem.

Do you believe that international cooperation is necessary to solve

environmental problems?

I think international cooperation is the only way to tackle environmental issues. It

is meaningless if one country takes measures to protect the environment, but its
neighbor does not.

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There must be a collective effort (nỗ lực chung) around the world where leaders
agree to the steps that must be taken. While there are many companies globally that
are trying to be more green to make true progress an international agreement must
be forged (=strengthen).

What do you think about climate change?

Well, for sure, climate change is a hugely controversial subject nowadays and I
think, it’s a problematic thing, it’s a problematic issue, clearly because of the
growing rise in the temperature, the global warming we are experiencing, is having
a huge impact on our lives, and on nature and the world around us.
For example, climate change… the increase of the temperature that is
happening due to the emission of methane from cows or carbon emissions from
traffic, is leading to this increased temperature which in turn leads to the sea level
rise which is getting worse and worse, and that’s destroying habitats for animals
like the polar bear and penguin. But not only that, it’s having a really detrimental
impact on coastal cities and lower-level land. It can lead to tsunamis, flooding in
lots of areas around the world and that’s gonna have a really really bad
impact. So, personally, I think climate change is a serious problem {and} that we
need to take radical action, right now. I go along with Greta Thunberg saying we
need to wake up to the reality around us. I don’t really go along with
the skeptics who don’t believe it’s a serious problem. I think it’s a problem and we
need to take action.
Why is climate change important for you?
Well. It’s a very good question and I’d like to answer the question in two parts.
First of all, I think it’s important politically and I think it’s important
environmentally. Firstly, politically, this is an important agenda on any prime
minister or any president’s to-do-list; looking at the impact of climate change
around the world. So, yes it’s hugely important for countries and politicians, but
more importantly, moving on to the second point, it’s hugely important for our
environment because we are destroying the environment around us. We
are destroying habitats through the rise in the sea level. We are destroying habitats
through deforestation, cutting down trees across the world which in turn leads
to droughts, the growth of arid land which could no longer be used for farming and
droughts have a really, obviously, negative impact on populations, especially in
tropical areas. So, it’s a hugely important issue for all of humanity.

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What can we do to stop climate change?
Well, I think there is a number of things that we can do. First of all, as countries,
we can introduce policies that will prevent, for example, deforestation. Policies
that will encourage countries to take positive actions towards climate change, but
there are also things that we as individuals can do. For starters, we can save
energy at home, we can be turning off lights when we don’t need them so we are
using less electricity. We can take public transport, so reducing our carbon
footprint, so there are fewer greenhouse gas emissions. We can also vote with our
feet when it comes to consumerism, and we can choose to buy fewer clothes so that
we are not pushed by the fashion industry to be consuming all of these fabrics that
then are just left as waste and are having a negative impact on the balance of the
ecosystem as well. So, I think both of these areas we need to address in order to
tackle climate change head-on.

Vocabulary list and definitions:

 The ravages of something: destruction of something

 Hybrid car: a car that uses both petrol and electricity
 Carbon footprint: how much carbon dioxide is released as a result of one’s
activities
 Recycle: breaking down products to create new products from the materials
 Growing season: the time of the year when plants grow
 Yields: amount of a crop produced
 Crops: a plant grown in large amounts
 Eco-conscious: describes someone who shows concern for the environment
 Natural fertilizer: fertilizers that come from animal waste, animal matter or
plant matter
 Chemical fertilizer: fertilizers that are made from synthetic materials
 Contaminate: to make something impure, poisonous or polluted
 Groundwater: water that is below the earth’s surface
 Vegetable scraps: bits of vegetables that are discarded
 Non-chemical compost: decaying matter such as food, leaves or manure used
to fertilize soil
 Organic: describes something that does not use chemical fertilizers
 Commute: travel to and from work

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  Solar panels: panels that collect rays from the sun to be used as energy for
electricity or heating
 Household cleaning products: products that are used to clean one’s home
 Time-consuming: describes something that takes a lot of time
 Environmentally conscious: when a person or business is aware of their
effect on the environment and attempts to minimize this affect
 Green lifestyle: a way of living that attempts to reduce usage of water &
power, waste and toxic substances
 Sustainable: describes something that causes minimal damage to the
environment
 Emulate: to copy someone’s behavior out of respect
 Conventional products: products that have been in use for a long time
 Energy saving: describe products designed to reduce use of electricity or
other form of energy
 Fuel emissions: gases that lead to air pollution through the burning of fuel
 Electric cars: vehicles that run on electricity
 Food miles: the distance food travels from the time it is produced until it
reaches its end customer
 Local food: food that is produced a short distance from where it is consumed
 Fossil fuels: coal, gas or oil that is used in industry, homes and vehicles
 Carbon monoxide: a dangerous gas produced from the partial burning of
fuels
 Dispose: throw away
 Waterways: lakes, rivers, oceans and canals
 Ecosystem: the geographic area where animals, plants and other organisms
interact
 Natural habitat: the area where a plant or animal normally lives
 Tackle: to try to deal with a problem
 Collective effort: when a group of people try to do something
 Forge: to create something strong or successful

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