Emergency: something dangerous or serious, such as an accident, that happens suddenly or unexpectedly and needs fast action in order to avoid harmful results.
Noun: During the emergency many staff volunteered to work through the weekend.
Desert: an area, often covered with sand or rocks, where there is very little rain and not many plants.
Noun: They were lost in the desert for nine days.
Forest: a large area of land covered with trees and plants, usually larger than a wood, or the trees and plants themselves.
Noun: The children got lost in the forest.
Drought: a long period when there is little or no rain.
Noun: This year (a) severe drought has ruined the crops.
Famine: a situation in which there is not enough food for a great number of people, causing illness and death, or a particular period when this happens.
Noun: Another crop failure could result in widespread famine.
Predict: to say that an event or action will happen in the future, especially as a result of knowledge or experience.
Verb: It's still not possible to accurately predict the occurrence of earthquakes.
Recycle: to sort and collect rubbish in order to treat it and produce useful materials that can be used again.
Verb: The Japanese recycle more than half their waste paper.
Missing people: someone who has disappeared and is no longer in communication with their family and friends.
Noun: He was reported as a missing people to the police.
Organic: not using artificial chemicals in the growing of plants and animals for food and other products.
Adjective: organic food/fruit/farms/farmers.
Paper: thin, flat material made from crushed wood or cloth, used for writing, printing, or drawing on.
Noun: This card is printed on recycled paper (= paper made from used paper).
Glass: a hard, transparent material, used to make windows, bottles, and other objects.
Noun: It's a huge window made from a single pane of glass.
First Responder: someone who is one of the first people to arrive to deal with an emergency, especially a paramedic, police officer, or firefighter.
Noun: First responders like paramedics and firefighters could be entering areas of very dangerous radiation.
Search and Secure Dog: is one trained to find missing people after a natural or man-made disaster. The dogs detect human scent and have been known to find people under water, under snow, and under collapsed buildings.
Noun: Yesterday I observed the search and security dog, he does everything with excellence.
Fire: (material that is in) the state of burning that produces flames that send out heat and light, and might produce smoke.
Noun: Animals are usually afraid of fire.
Natural Disaster: a natural event such as a flood, earthquake, or tsunami that kills or injures a lot of people.
Noun: Europe's 2003 heat wave claimed more than 30,000 lives, making it the continent's largest natural disaster in 50 years.
Shelter: (a building designed to give) protection from bad weather, danger, or attack:
Noun: They opened a shelter to provide temporary housing for the city's homeless.
Landfill: the process of getting rid of large amounts of rubbish by burying it, or a place where rubbish is buried.
Noun: 90 percent of American rubbish is dumped in landfill sites.
Plastic: an artificial substance that can be shaped when soft into many different forms and has many different uses.
Noun: Those flowers aren't real - they're made of plastic.
Earthquake: a sudden violent movement of the earth's surface, sometimes causing great damage.
Noun: In 1906 an earthquake destroyed much of San Francisco.
Relief Worker: A person who works for financial assistance or relief, especially under some state scheme.
Noun: Relief workers rescued people stranded on roofs, trees and islands.Times, Sunday Times (2007).