French Climate Change And Global Warming Vocabulary

le changement climatique

The global climate change crisis is real and it’s not going away anytime soon. On this page we’ve provided a complete list of French climate change and global warming vocabulary. We’ve broken the list down in to the following categories: weather and energy, science, geography and land as well as useful verbs.

Table of Contents

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Weather and energy

climate le climat
climatologist un/une climatologue, climatologiste
drought une sécheresse
precipitation le précipitations (f)
solar energy l’énergie solaire
weather le temps, la météo
global climate le climat global de la Terre
regional climates les climats régionaux
tornados les tornades (f)
hurricanes les ouragan (m)
storms les tempêtes (f)
natural disasters les catastrophes naturelles (f)
renewable energy les énergies renouvelables (f)
nuclear energy l’énergie nucléaire (f)
wind power, wind energy l’énergie éolienne (f)
solar energy l’énergie solaire (f)
hydroelectric power l’énergie hydraulique

Science

climate change le changement climatique, le dérèglement climatique
global warming le réchauffement climatique
atmosphere l’atmosphère (f)
barometric pressure la pression atmosphérique
concentration la concentration
ecosystem un écosystème
environment l’environment (m)
fossil fuel un combustible fossile
greenhouse gas le gaz à effet de serre
greenhouse gas emissions les émissions de gaz à effet de serre
greenhouse effect l’effet de serre (m)
methane concentration la concentration de méthane
carbon dioxide (CO2) le dioxyde de carbone
average temperature la température moyenne

Geography and land

deforestation le déboisement, déforestation
glacier un glacier
planet la planète
oceans les océans (m)
sub-tropical countries les pays subtropicaux
polar regions les régions polaires
sea ice, pack ice la banquise

History, time periods, people

industrial revolution la révolution industrielle
human activity les activités humaines (f)
the increase in average temperature l’augmentation de la température moyenne (f)
phenomenon un phénomène
recording un enregistrement
time period une période
melting of glaciers la fonte des glaciers
animal species les espèces animales
ice age, glacial period une période glaciaire
gas emissions les rejets de gaz
cars les voitures (f)
factories les usines (f)
consequences of climate change les conséquences du réchauffement climatique
raising of livestock l’élevage (m)
increase of heat l’augmentation de chaleur (f)
increase in sea levels l’augmentation du niveau de la mer
carbon tax une taxe carbone

Verbs related to climate change

to warm up se réchauffer
to increase augmenter
to disappear disparaître
to burn fossil fules brûler les énergies fossiles
to destroy forests détruire les forêts
to release carbon relâcher le carbone
to emit CO2 émettre le CO2
to fight against climate change lutter contre le réchauffement climatique
to remedy the problem remédier le problème

Related lessons:

More resources:

Climate change glossary – lenntech.fr (French site)
Climate change glossary – ledevoir.fr (French site)

Suggested audio French courses from Frenchtoday.com

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David Issokson

David Issokson is a lifelong language enthusiast. His head is swimming with words and sounds as he speaks over six languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private online lessons. When procrastinating working on his site, FrenchLearner.com, David enjoys his time skiing and hiking in Teton Valley, Idaho.

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