We visited the rainforest in Costa Rica.†

rainforest = a forest with heavy annual rainfall — perhaps in the order of 100 inches per year

Typical Usage

Al Gore is a champion for those who want to make global warming the top priority.†

global warming = a gradual warming of the Earth's surface temperature — especially as caused by human activity

Typical Usage

Scientist believe Europe will continue to face greater glacier retreat due to global warming.

glacier = a large mass of ice that moves over land like an exceedingly slow river

(editor's note:  To see pictures, click on the Google Images link that is shown after clicking on the word link.)

Typical Usage

allocate time and resources†

allocate = distribute according to a plan; or set apart for a special purpose

Typical Usage

a marine habitat†

habitat = the type of environment in which an organism or group normally lives

Typical Usage

Ionizing radiation has enough energy to ionize atoms or molecules.

radiation = particles emitted by nuclear decay (i.e., particles smaller than an atom that are sent out due to radioactivity)

Typical Usage

It is an endangered species.

species = a similar group of animals or plants identified as separate from others because they can interbreed with each other

Typical Usage

She did an impressive job given the adverse circumstances.

adverse = working against one's interests

Typical Usage

These maps are drawn with north to the top unless otherwise indicated.

indicated = pointed out (shown)

Typical Usage

Los Angeles is prone to smog because of its topography.†

topography = the features of the surface area of a region; or their study — especially changes in elevation

Typical Usage

It is a rare long-arm squid of the genus Magnapinna.†

genus = a taxonomic group containing one or more species

Typical Usage

China recently emerged as a world power.

emerged = came out (became)

Typical Usage

My skin dries in the arid desert climate.

arid = dry

Typical Usage

She is studying botany.†

botany = the branch of biology that studies plants

Typical Usage

The poorer a country's people are, the greater the temptation to deplete the country's forests and fisheries.

deplete = use up (resources or materials)

Typical Usage

She picked up a parasitic infection while in Africa.

parasitic = from a species that lives in another species and eats from it

Typical Usage

Canada and the U.S. each benefit greatly from a symbiotic relationship.†

symbiotic = a relationship between two species (or entities) that live in close proximity — typically helping each other

Typical Usage

flora and fauna of the region†

flora = all the plant life in a particular region or period

Typical Usage

She is an expert on the fauna of the rain forest.†

fauna = all the animal life — especially in a particular region or period

Typical Usage

The essential feature of the pen is that it writes so consistently.

essential = absolutely necessary; or of greatest importance

Typical Usage

The entomologist is an expert on termites.

entomologist = someone who studies the branch of zoology that studies insects

Typical Usage

municipal government†

municipal = relating to a city or town

Typical Usage

Our policy is in compliance with the law.

compliance = to conform to rules or the wishes of others

Typical Usage

...government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.

Abraham Lincoln  --  Gettysburg Address

perish = be destroyed or cease to exist

Typical Usage

The computers are vulnerable to cyberattacks.

vulnerable = easily hurt

Typical Usage

want to revitalize the downtown and limit urban sprawl†

urban = relating to a city

Typical Usage

Los Angeles replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day.

indigenous = originally from there

Typical Usage

You must confront your problems.

confront = deal directly with an unpleasant situation

Typical Usage

Nature helps to remove carbon from the atmosphere via photosynthesis.

photosynthesis = the process by which plants and other things make food (such as sugars) from carbon dioxide by using the energy of the sunlight

Typical Usage

The college wants a diverse student body.

diverse = varied — in this case consisting of a population of different kinds of people — such as different ethnic groups and genders

Typical Usage

They hope to create a genetically engineered yeast to produce a hydrocarbon replacement.†

hydrocarbon = an organic compound containing only carbon and hydrogen

Typical Usage

In 2010, the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication reported that only 57% of Americans can explain what the greenhouse effect is.†

greenhouse effect = the partial trapping of solar radiation as in a greenhouse or in the earth's atmosphere

Typical Usage

The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone.†

greenhouse gases = gases that increase the greenhouse effect (global warming) when they are in the atmosphere; e.g., carbon dioxide

Typical Usage

animal taxonomy†

taxonomy = a classification of organisms into groups based on similarities of structure or origin

or more rarely:

the classification of anything

Typical Usage

The doctor said I should include more soluble fiber in my diet.†

soluble = capable of being dissolved in some solvent — typically water

Typical Usage

Middle Schools are stratified into cliques of different types of students.†

stratified = divided into layers or subgroups

Typical Usage

Plankton are important in marine food chains.†

plankton = tiny or microscopic plants and animals that float in water such as oceans or lakes and are eaten by larger animals such as fish

Typical Usage

the turbid underworld of illegal drug traffickers†

turbid = of liquids:  clouded as with sediment

of thinking or conditions:  confused and not clear

Typical Usage

an alkaline battery†

alkaline = having a pH greater than 7 (this is the opposite of acidic)

Typical Usage

The Sierra Club has over half a million members.†

Sierra Club = an environmental organization

Typical Usage

Carnivorous plants are capable of trapping and digesting insects.

carnivorous = feeding on animals

Typical Usage

It is a peaceful herbivore.

herbivore = feeding only on plants

Typical Usage

potable water†

potable = suitable for drinking

Typical Usage

studied the creature's diurnal activities†

diurnal = happening daily, over the period of a day, or in the day rather than the evening

Typical Usage

Greater biodiversity increases the stability and resilience of an ecosystem.†

biodiversity = the variety of life in all its forms and levels — typically in a specified area

Typical Usage

Tundra reindeer travel as much as 3,000 miles a year.

tundra = a vast treeless plain in the northern arctic regions where the subsoil is always frozen (between the ice cap and the tree line)

Typical Usage

The problems of poverty are attenuated by the social safety net.†

attenuated = reduced in strength

Typical Usage

the worms help to aerate the soil

aerate = expose to air

Typical Usage

Chlorophyll absorbs light most strongly in the blue portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.†

chlorophyll = the green substance in plants that absorbs light energy that is converted to chemical energy through photosynthesis

Typical Usage

China is transforming from an agrarian to an industrial economy.†

agrarian = relating to agriculture (farming)

Typical Usage

We didn't extend our trip to visit India because it was the start of the monsoon system.

monsoon = rainy season in southern Asia when wind blows from the southwest

Typical Usage

China has almost 20% of the world's population, but has only 7% of its arable land.

arable = capable of being farmed productively

Typical Usage

She wants to acidify the soil to grow blueberries.†

acidify = turn into an acid

Typical Usage

In those days the loam in that area was four feet thick.

loam = rich soil

Typical Usage

a grassroots movement for nuclear disarmament†

grassroots = of or involving the common people as contrasted to elite leaders

Typical Usage

It's a classic example of a small, but effective pressure group due to concentrated interests.†

pressure group = a group of people who try actively to influence legislation

Typical Usage

interspecific competition for light†

interspecific = arising or occurring between species

Typical Usage

intraspecific competition for prey†

intraspecific = arising or occurring within a species

Typical Usage

The belief is not only foolish, but potentially injurious.†

injurious = harmful — especially to human health

Typical Usage

arboreal apes†

arboreal = relating to trees — often of a species that lives in trees

Typical Usage

seasonal thinning of the ozone layer†

ozone layer = a layer in the stratosphere (roughly  20 miles up) containing enough ozone to block most ultraviolet radiation from the sun

Typical Usage

The medication assists where surgery cannot completely extirpate a tumor.

extirpate = to completely remove, eliminate, or destroy

Typical Usage

Polonium-210 has a half-life of 138 days.†

half-life = the time required for something to fall to half its initial value — especially radioactivity or (within the body) medication

Typical Usage

The Eden project houses artificial biomes.†

biomes = a basic type of ecological community such as tropical rain forest or desert

Typical Usage

The Green Revolution largely consisted of the spread of existing technologies from industrialized nations.†

Green Revolution = the introduction of pesticides and high-yield grains and better management during the 1960s and 1970s which greatly increased agricultural productivity

Typical Usage

He said he left Greenpeace in protest of its support for a universal ban on chlorine in drinking water.†

Greenpeace = an international organization that works for environmental conservation and the preservation of endangered species

Typical Usage

As a young man, John Muir walked  a thousand miles from Indiana to Florida.†

John Muir = U.S. naturalist instrumental in forming Yosemite National Park and the Sierra Club (1838-1914)

Typical Usage

The windward side of the island gets more rain.

windward = the direction from which the wind is coming

Typical Usage

Frequently, there more species in the ecotone between a mature forest and the adjoining grassland than between two types of forest.†

ecotone = a transition zone between two types of ecological communities such as where a field meets a forest

Typical Usage

The Canadian taiga is being attacked from all sides.†

taiga = a cool forest of cone-bearing evergreen trees; also called a boreal forest

Typical Usage

prescribed burns of chaparral†

chaparral = dense vegetation typically consisting of bushes found in dry climates

Typical Usage

When water is already recycled and leaking infrastructure has been fixed, desalination may be a cost-effective for affluent communities near the coast.†

desalination = the removal of salt from sea water

Typical Usage

Angiosperms (flowering plants) are the largest phylum in the Plant Kingdom.†

phylum = a major category into which scientists group types of animals and plants (more precisely:  the taxonomic category below kingdom and above class)

Typical Usage

Government needs to address this situation since it is clearly a tragedy of the commons in the making.†

tragedy of the commons = a metaphor used to illustrate the conflict between individual interests and the common good;

Specifically, a hypothetical example of a pasture shared by local herders. Since nobody has an owner's incentive to manage the pasture, it is overgrazed and thus ruined.

Typical Usage

The remodeling was expensive because the floor tile was friable and contained asbestos.†

friable = easily broken into small fragments or reduced to powder

Typical Usage

Countries have exclusive right to mine minerals in the subsoil of their continental shelf.†

continental shelf = gently sloping underwater plain from the continent's shore to about 200 meters

Typical Usage

Sediment from the continent settles at the base of the continental slope.†

continental slope = steep descent (2-5 degrees) of the seabed from the continental shelf to the deep ocean

Typical Usage

The trade winds blow predominantly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere.†

trade winds = any surface winds that blow along a regular course with relatively regularly — especially strong easterly winds that blow through the tropics and subtropics

Typical Usage

West coast surfers love El Nino for warm water and big waves.†

El Nino = warmer than usual ocean currents associated with drier winters in the Pacific Northwest and wetter winters in the Southwest United States

Typical Usage

La Niña is often preceded by a strong El Niño.†

La Niña = cooler than usual ocean currents associated with wetter winters in the Pacific Northwest and drier winters in the Southwest United States

Typical Usage

the eastern deciduous forests

deciduous = tending to fall off — typically of plants that shed leaves at the end of the growing season

or much more rarely:  of  teeth, antlers, and scales shed at the end of a period of growth

Typical Usage

The 2005 red tide closed shellfish beds in Maine and Massachusetts.†

red tide = a noticeable red (or brown) discoloration of sea water caused by an excessive growth of microscopic algae

Typical Usage

Coniferous forests have less biodiversity than deciduous forests.†

coniferous = relating to plants bearing cones and evergreen leaves

Typical Usage

The Continental Divide Trail runs 3,100 miles between Mexico and Canada.†

continental divide = a line of elevated terrain from which a continent's rivers flow in two different directions

Typical Usage

This sedimentary rock was formed from a few millimeters of sediment that accumulated on the ocean floor each year.†

sedimentary = rock which has been created from layers of sediment laying on top of one another; one of three basic categories into which rocks can be classified

Typical Usage

She majored in anthropology and just finished a report for the State Department that describes tribal customs in eastern Africa.

anthropology = the social science that studies the origins and social relationships of human beings

Typical Usage

The pancreas secretes insulin.†

secretes = produce and discharge small amounts of a substance — especially from biological glands

Typical Usage

She worked hard to raise capital to start their new company.

capital = cash (or more generally, material wealth — especially assets available for use in the production of further assets)

Typical Usage

Most people associate the Amazon River with Brazil.†

Amazon River = South American river which is largest in world by volume of water and world's 2nd longest river (4000 miles)

Typical Usage

Dogs were domesticated thousands of years ago.

domesticated = made fit for service to humans or home life — by breeding or taming

Typical Usage