"Eco" Words

ACID RAIN
Rain, snow, hail, sleet, and fog polluted by chemicals in the air.

CLIMATE
The ordinary pattern of weather in a region of the world.

COMPOST HEAP
A pile of food scraps and yard waste that is gradually broken down by worms and tiny insects. The result looks like plain dirt. It can be used to enrich the soil.

CONSERVATION
The preservation and wise use of water, forests, and other natural resources so they will not be damaged or wasted.

DEFORESTATION
The cutting down of most of the trees from forested land, usually so that the land can be used for farming and housing.

ECOSYSTEM
A community of living things that depend on each other, in a particular place, such as a forest or pond.

ENVIRONMENT
The variety of plants, animals, and conditions (such as climate, soil, weather) that affects the growth of living things in an area.

EXTINCTION
Disappearance of a type (species) of plant or animal from Earth. Some species become extinct because of non-human forces, but many others are becoming endangered or threatened with extinction because of the activities of people.

FOOD CHAIN
The way each living creature depends on another living thing as a source of food. Humans eat animals. Bigger animals eat smaller animals. Smaller animals eat even smaller ones. And so on, down to the tiniest living creatures.

FOSSIL FUEL
A source of energy (such as oil, gas, and coal) formed deep in the Earth from once-living matter.

GLOBAL WARMING
An increase in Earth's surface temperature due to a buildup of certain gases in the atmosphere.

GREENHOUSE EFFECT
Warming of Earth caused by certain gases (called greenhouse gases) that form a blanket in the atmosphere high over Earth. Small amounts of these gases keep Earth warm so we can live here, but the larger amounts produced by factories, cars, and burning trees may hold too much heat and cause global warming.

GROUNDWATER
Water in the ground that flows in the spaces between soil particles and rocks. Groundwater supplies water for wells and springs.

HABITAT
The natural home of an animal or a plant.

ORNITHOLOGY
The study of birds.

OZONE LAYER
A layer in the atmosphere, 15 miles above the earth, which protects our planet from the sun's harmful rays.

POLLUTION
Contamination of air, water, or soil by materials that can injure health, the quality of life, or the working of ecosystems.

RECYCLING
Using something more than once, either just the way it is, or reprocessed into something else.

REFORESTATION
Planting and growing new trees where other trees have been cut down.

SOIL EROSION
The washing away or blowing away of topsoil. Trees and other plants hold the soil in place and help reduce the force of the wind. Soil erosion happens when trees and plants are cut down.