Vocabulary

LIFE
species	one species or many different species	laji, lajit
biodiversity	the variety of plant and animal life	biodiversiteetti, elonkirjo, luonnon monimuotoisuus
wildlife	wild animals and plants	eläimet ja kasvit
flora, vegetation	plants	kasvit
fauna	animals	eläimet
herbivore	an animal that feeds on plants	kasvissyöjä
omnivore	an animal that feeds on both plants and meat	sekasyöjä
carnevore	an animal that feeds on meat	lihansyöjä
a habitat	the natural home of an animal or plant	elinympäristö
the soil	the layer of earth in which plants grow	kasvualusta, maaperä
fertile soil	capable of producing abundant crops	hedelmällinen maaperä
fertilizers	substance added to soil to make it more fertile	lannoite
face extinction	to be endangered	olla uhanalainen
become extinct	to die out (as a species)	kuolla sukupuuttoon
a sanctuary	a sacred place (a shrine) or a place of safety	pyhä paikka / suojelualue
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
drought	extended period of dryness	kuivuus
precipitation	rainfall	sade, sademäärä
a rupture	sudden burst	purkaus
emit carbon dioxide	release a greenhouse gas (CO2)	vapauttaa hiilidioksidia
emissions	something harmful that is released into the air	päästöt
exhaust fumes	gas that is emitted as a result of the combustion of fuels such as gas or petrol	pakokaasut
contaminate	make something impure	saastuttaa / tartuttaa
a contagious disease	a disease that can spread from one individual to another	tartuntatauti
poaching	illegal hunting	salametsästys
to menace	to threaten	uhata
famine	extreme scarcity of food	nälänhätä
deforestation	clearing a wide area of trees	metsän hävittäminen, avohakkuu
urbanization	the process through which cities grow (an increasing number of people live in cities)	kaupungistuminen
smog	mixture of smoke and fog in the air (air pollution)	savusumu
rural area	the opposite of an urban (city) area; countryside	maaseutu
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
sustainable development	taking care of our needs today without compromising or limiting the ability of future generations to meet their own needs	kestävä kehitys
recycling	collecting used materials such as paper, plastic, glass, and metal and processing them to create new items of similar or lesser quality	kierrätys
upcycling	creatively transforming old or discarded materials or products into new items of higher value or quality	uusiokäyttö
decompose	the process by which dead substances are broken down into simpler organic/inorganic substances	maatuminen
disintegrate	to break up into small parts	hajota
biodegradable	capable of being decomposed	biologisesti hajoava = maatuva
dispose of	throwing away, throwing out, or getting rid of something that is no longer wanted or needed	hävittää, heittää pois
plastic debris [debri]	pieces of rubbish that includes plastic	muovijäte
ENERGY
energy consumption	how much energy is consumed (used)	energiankulutus
energy-efficient	using energy so that it is not wasted	energiaa säästävä
renewable sources of energy	wind power, thermal power and hydroelectricity (water power)	uusiutuvat energianlähteet
nuclear energy	power generated from splitting atoms in a process called nuclear fission. This releases a tremendous amount of heat, which is then used to produce electricity	ydinenergia
a fission	division or spitting into two parts	fissio, jakautuminen
a fusion	the process of joining two or more things together	fuusio, sulautuminen
a fallout	the radioactive dust in the air after a nuclear explosion	laskeuma
a nucleus (many nuclei)	the central and most important part	ydin (ytimet)