The Environment and Climate Change

Sharing the Planet asks a demanding question of every IB Spanish B student: how do human beings live responsibly alongside one another and the natural world? We begin with el medio ambiente (the environment) and el cambio climático (climate change), because these topics generate some of the richest debates in the Spanish-speaking world, from the Amazon basin to the Patagonian glaciers.

Start by anchoring your core vocabulary. Key nouns include el calentamiento global (global warming), el efecto invernadero (the greenhouse effect), los gases de efecto invernadero (greenhouse gases), el deshielo (the melting of ice), la sequía (drought), la inundación (flood), and la huella de carbono (carbon footprint). Useful verbs are contaminar (to pollute), calentar (to warm), derretirse (to melt), and