Advanced Vocabulary for IELTS 7.0+: Environmental Issues and the Natural World (Part 5)

Kasturika Samanta

7 min read

Updated On Sep 24, 2025

Enhance your preparation with advanced IELTS vocabulary on environmental issues and the natural world. Get clear meanings, contextual examples, and focused practice exercises to strengthen your lexical resource for IELTS band score 7–8 success.

Environmental Challenges and Concepts (Nouns & Adjectives)
Environmental Actions and Processes (Verbs)
Exercises Based on Advanced Environmental Issues and the Natural World Vocabulary for IELTS 7.0 +
Answer Key for Exercises Based on Advanced Environment Vocabulary for IELTS 7.0 +
Additional Resources for Improving Your Environment Vocabulary for IELTS

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Environmental issues and the natural world are among the most common themes in the IELTS exam. So, to achieve Band 7.0+ in Lexical Resource, it is not enough to know simple words like ‘pollution’ or ‘climate’. Instead, you need IELTS academic high-frequency vocabulary words and verbs that precisely express causes, effects, and solutions.

In this blog, we will explore essential vocabulary with strong environmental relevance to broaden your vocabulary for high-scoring answers.

Environmental Challenges and Concepts (Nouns & Adjectives)

This table focuses on an IELTS Vocabulary words list for Band 8 or 9 with advanced nouns and adjectives that describe environmental phenomena, problems, and conditions. These words often appear in academic IELTS Reading texts or Writing Task 2 essays.

Word	Meaning	Example Sentence
Absorption	the process by which substances are taken in or soaked up	Forests play a key role in the absorption of carbon dioxide.
Emission	the release of gas, heat, light, or radiation	Car emissions are a major contributor to urban air pollution.
Conducive	making a situation more likely or possible	A stable climate is conducive to agricultural growth.
Occurrence	an incident or event, often something natural	Flooding is a common occurrence in low-lying areas.
Inhospitable	harsh and difficult to live in	Climate change may make certain regions inhospitable for humans.
Concentrations	the amount of a substance in a given space	High concentrations of methane accelerate global warming.
Deforestation	the clearing of forests on a large scale	Deforestation leads to loss of biodiversity and climate imbalance.
Consumption	the act of using resources, goods, or energy	Overconsumption of fossil fuels has severe consequences.
Depletion	reduction in the amount of a resource	The depletion of freshwater reserves threatens millions.
Unrelated	not connected	The teacher said the issue was unrelated to climate change.
Abundance	a very large quantity of something	The rainforest is known for its abundance of species.
Dependence	reliance on something	Global dependence on fossil fuels hinders renewable growth.
Emergence	the process of coming into view or becoming important	The emergence of green technology is promising for the future.
Extraction	the process of removing natural resources	Oil extraction has devastated coastal ecosystems.
Irreversible	impossible to change back or undo	Some damage caused by climate change may be irreversible.

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Environmental Actions and Processes (Verbs)

This table includes verbs commonly used in academic contexts to describe environmental actions, effects, and changes. These are high-frequency words in IELTS Writing Task 2 essays and Reading passages.

Word	Meaning	Example Sentence
Exacerbating	making a problem worse	Rising temperatures are exacerbating droughts in Africa.
Reverse	to change something back to its original state	Governments are working to reverse the effects of deforestation.
Intensification	the process of becoming stronger or more extreme	The intensification of storms is linked to global warming.
Penetrating	entering or passing through something	UV rays are penetrating the weakened ozone layer.
Reflected	thrown back without being absorbed	Some solar radiation is reflected back into space.
Emitted	released into the air	Carbon dioxide is emitted during fuel combustion.
Mitigate	to reduce the severity of something	Policies must mitigate the effects of climate change.
Offset	to counterbalance emissions	Tree planting can offset carbon footprints.
Degrade	to damage or wear down the environment	Plastic waste degrades soil and water quality.
Overexploit	to use resources excessively	Overexploiting fisheries leads to species extinction.
Restore	to return to original condition	Wetland restoration is vital for biodiversity.
Adapt	to adjust to new conditions	Communities must adapt to rising sea levels.
Regenerate	to grow back or renew	Forests can regenerate if protected from logging.
Implement	to put a plan or law into action	Governments must implement strict environmental policies.

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Exercises Based on Advanced Environmental Issues and the Natural World Vocabulary for IELTS 7.0 +

It is impossible to improve your band score by learning the meaning of words and sentences only. Using it effectively requires vocabulary exercises that help your brain transfer words from short- to long-term memory.

So, given below are some exercises based on environmental issues and the natural world vocabulary for IELTS that will help you improve your word choice and boost your IELTS vocabulary.

(A) The Role of Humanity: Change the form of the word in square brackets suitably to fit each gap.

The greenhouse effect is essentially the process by which the 1. _______________ [absorb] and 2. _______________ [emit] of infrared radiation by gases in the atmosphere warms the planet’s lower atmosphere and surface. Put simply, the so-called greenhouse gases which cause this effect basically redirect heat that would otherwise escape back into outer space down towards the surface of the earth. This phenomenon is actually key to creating conditions 3. _______________ [conduct] to life on Earth. Without the natural 4. _______________ [occur] of these gases and consequent planetary warming, Earth would actually be a very 5. _______________ [hospitable] place. The problem, however, began in the 1800s during the industrial revolution. The increased amount of industrial activity led to additional volumes of greenhouse gases being produced unnaturally as a result of human activity. Obviously, as the level of industrial activity has increased dramatically over the last several centuries, so too then has the rate of production and emission of greenhouse gases. Human activity has therefore altered the balance of things with 6. _______________ [concentrate] of greenhouse gases such as C02 and methane in the atmosphere significantly higher today than at any other time in the past 800,000 years of Earth’s history. About two-thirds of the additional C02 released is attributed to the burning of fossil fuels, while the rest of the increase in atmospheric greenhouse gas levels is put down to changes in land-use, in particular 7. _______________ [forest], and population growth, which, for example, has led to greater numbers of livestock than ever before being reared for 8. _______________ [consume], and a consequent significant increase in methane emissions. The 9. _______________ [deplete] of the tropospheric ozone layer, caused by chlorofluorocarbons, has also had a significant warming effect on the Earth’s surface, but this is not to be confused with the greenhouse effect as the two phenomena are largely 10. _______________ [relate]. Given the relative 11. _______________ [abound] of fossil fuels, our 12. _______________ [depend] on them, and the 13. _______________ [emerge] of new and more efficient methods of 14. _______________ [extract], the likelihood of a significant reduction in carbon emission levels in the near future seems very unlikely. Therefore, the problem of global warming also appears very unlikely to moderate. Besides, many scientists believe the damage already done may be 15. _______________ [reverse].

(B) Nature’s Role: Use the words from the box to fill gaps 1-6. You may have to change the tense or form, and you should only use each word once.

exacerbate emit penetrate reflect intensify reverse

If anything, while humankind has been 1.___________ the warming situation, nature herself, by happy coincidence, has been behaving in such a way as to partially 2. ___________ the effects, and, over the last half a century or so, in particular, nature has had a significant cooling effect. For a start, there has been a significant 3. ___________ of volcanic activity, and the consequent release of particulates and soot contributed to what is termed Global Dimming, a cooling phenomenon whereby more of the Sun’s rays are prevented from 4. ___________ the atmosphere and reaching the planet’s surface, and are instead 5. ___________ back out into space. Another cooling factor is that of solar output. If anything, less solar radiation has been 6. ___________ by the Sun in the past thirty years or so.

Answer Key for Exercises Based on Advanced Environment Vocabulary for IELTS 7.0 +

(A)

1 absorption 2. emission 3. conducive 4. occurrence 5. inhospitable

6 concentrations 7. deforestation 8. consumption 9. depletion 10. unrelated

11 abundance 12. dependence 13. emergence 14. extraction 15. irreversible

(B)

1 exacerbating 2. reverse 3. intensification

4 penetrating 5. reflected 6. emitted

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Additional Resources for Improving Your Environment Vocabulary for IELTS

Here are some additional links to help you learn more environment vocabulary for IELTS:

To conclude, environmental issues and the natural world terms frequently appear in scientific reports, news articles, and academic extracts in the listening and reading of the IELTS exam. Using precise words and collocations makes your arguments more natural and fluent in writing and speaking tasks. Therefore, by mastering these Band 7.0+ words and verbs, you will significantly improve your ability to discuss environmental issues and the natural world in IELTS.

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