Climate, Ozone, and Climate Change Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards based on lecture notes about Climate, Ozone, and Climate Change.

Aerosols

Small particles or liquid droplets in the atmosphere that can absorb or reflect sunlight.

Albedo

The fraction of solar radiation reflected by a surface or object, often expressed as a percentage.

Anthropogenic

Made by people or resulting from human activities.

Carbon Cycle

All parts (reservoirs) and fluxes of carbon.

Carbon Dioxide

A naturally occurring gas and principal anthropogenic greenhouse gas.

Carbon Dioxide Equivalent

A metric measure used to compare the emissions from various greenhouse gases based on their global warming potential (GWP).

Carbon Footprint

The total amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere each year by a person, family, building, organization, or company.

Carbon Sequestration

The uptake and storage of carbon.

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

Greenhouse gases covered under the 1987 Montreal Protocol and used for refrigeration, air conditioning, packaging, insulation, solvents, or aerosol propellants.

Climate

The 'average weather,' or the statistical description in terms of the mean and variability of relevant quantities over a period of time.

Climate Change

Any significant change in measures of climate (such as temperature, precipitation, or wind) lasting for an extended period (decades or longer).

Climate Feedback

When the result of an initial climate process triggers changes in a second climate process, which in turn influences the initial one.

Climate Lag

The delay that occurs in climate change due to some factor that changes only very slowly.

Climate Model

A quantitative way of representing the interactions of the atmosphere, oceans, land surface, and ice.

Continental Climate

A climate with a high temperature range away from the influence of the sea.

Deforestation

Practices or processes that convert forested lands for non-forest uses.

Desertification

Land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities.

Differential Heating

Unequal distribution of solar radiation at different latitudes due to Earth's curvature.

El Niño - Southern Oscillation (ENSO)

A warm water current that periodically flows along the coast of Ecuador and Peru, disrupting the local fishery.

Emissions

The release of a substance (usually a gas when referring to climate change) into the atmosphere.

Energy Budget

Describes the balance between the radiant energy that reaches Earth from the sun and the energy that flows from Earth back to space.

Enhanced Greenhouse Effect

Anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases have enhanced the natural greenhouse effect.

Feedback Mechanisms

Factors that increase or amplify (positive feedback) or decrease (negative feedback) the rate of a process.

Ferrel Cell

The tropospheric middle air circulation cells where air converges at low altitudes to ascend along the boundaries between the cool polar air and the warm subtropical air, generally occurring between 60 and 70 degrees north and south.

Global Warming

An average increase in the temperature of the atmosphere near the Earth's surface and in the troposphere.

Global Warming Potential

A measure of the total energy that a gas absorbs over a particular period (usually 100 years), compared to carbon dioxide.

Greenhouse Effect

Trapping and build-up of heat in the atmosphere (troposphere) near the Earth’s surface.

Greenhouse Gas

Any gas that absorbs infrared radiation in the atmosphere.

Gyres

Large circular ocean currents formed by global wind patterns and forces created by Earth’s rotation.

Hadley Cell

The largest tropospheric air circulation cells extend from the equator to between 30 and 40 degrees north and south.

Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs)

Compounds containing hydrogen, fluorine, chlorine, and carbon atoms. These ozone-depleting substances are less potent at destroying stratospheric ozone than chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)

Compounds containing only hydrogen, fluorine, and carbon atoms. They are potent greenhouse gases and do not significantly deplete the stratospheric ozone layer.

Jet Stream

Relatively narrow bands of strong wind in the upper levels of the atmosphere.

Infrared Radiation

Radiation emitted by the Earth's surface, the atmosphere, and the clouds.

Insolation

Solar radiation received in the Earth's atmosphere or at its surface.

Intercontinental convergence zone (ITCZ)

The region that circles the Earth, near the equator, where the Northern and Southern Hemispheres' trade winds come together.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

Established by the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Organization to assess information about climate change.

Longwave Radiation

Radiation emitted from the Earth and the atmosphere in the spectral wavelength greater than 4 micrometers.

Maritime Climate

A climate with a low temperature range influenced by proximity to the sea.

Methane (CH4)

A hydrocarbon that is a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential most recently estimated at 23 times that of carbon dioxide (CO2).

Natural Gas

Underground deposits of gases consisting of 50 to 90 percent methane (CH4) and small amounts of heavier gaseous hydrocarbon compounds.

Nitrogen Oxides (NOx)

Gases consisting of one nitrogen molecule and varying numbers of oxygen molecules, produced in vehicle exhausts and from power stations.

Ozone (O3)

A gas created both naturally and by photochemical reactions; in the stratosphere, it shields the Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation.

Ozone Layer

The layer of ozone that begins approximately 15 km above Earth and thins to an almost negligible amount at about 50 km, shields the Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun.

Particulate Matter (PM)

Very small pieces of solid or liquid matter, such as soot particles, dust, fumes, mists, or aerosols.

Photosynthesis

The process by which plants take CO2 from the air (or bicarbonate in water) to build carbohydrates, releasing O2 in the process.

Polar Cell

The smallest and weakest tropospheric air circulation cells, which extend from between 60 and 70 degrees north and south to the poles.

Residence Time

The average time an individual atom or molecule spends in a reservoir; for greenhouse gases, it refers to how long a molecule remains in the atmosphere.

Seasonality

Periodic fluctuations in the climate related to the seasons of the year, e.g., wet winters and drier summers.

Sink

An area or reservoir that stores a substance for a relatively long period, characterized by a net accumulation.

Source

The places where elements and compounds are found and how they move through the Earth's systems.

Thermal Expansion

The increase in volume (and decrease in density) that results from warming water.

Thermohaline Circulation

Large-scale density-driven circulation in the ocean, caused by differences in temperature and salinity.

Trace Gas

Any of the less common gases in the Earth's atmosphere.

Ultraviolet Radiation (UV)

The energy range just beyond the violet end of the visible spectrum.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

Sets an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by climate change.

Water Vapor

The most abundant greenhouse gas, it is the water present in the atmosphere in gaseous form.

Weather

Atmospheric condition at any given time or place.

Ocean acidification

The ongoing decrease in the pH value of the planet's seas, primarily caused by the absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Invasive species

An organism that is introduced to a new environment outside of its native range and whose introduction causes, or is likely to cause, harm to the economy, the environment, or human health.

Endangered species

A type of organism facing a very high risk of extinction in the near future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.

Threatened species

A type of organism that is likely to become in danger of extinction in the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.

HIPPCO

An acronym representing the major causes of biodiversity loss: Habitat destruction, degradation, and fragmentation; Invasive species; Population growth and increasing resource use; Pollution; Climate change; and Overexploitation.

Habitat fragmentation

The process by which a continuous living area is broken into smaller, isolated patches, often by human activities.

Biodiversity hotspots

Regions with a high number of different life forms, a significant portion of which are found nowhere else, and that have experienced substantial habitat loss.

Habitat restoration

The process of assisting the recovery of a degraded, damaged, or destroyed natural living area.