politics

Adaptation is the adjustment or preparation of natural or human systems to a new or

8changing environment that moderates harm.

e Anthropogenic refers to something being made by people or resulting from human activity.

e Atmosphere is the gaseous envelope that surrounds Earth.

e Carbon dioxide (or CO,) is a naturally occurring gas that is also released as a by-product

of burning fossil fuels, particular forms of land use and other industrial processes; it is

the principal greenhouse gas that affects Earth9s atmosphere.

e Climate refers to the average weather over a period ranging from months to thousands

of years.

e Emissions refers to the release of substances 4 usually gases in the context of climate

change 4 into the atmosphere.

© Fossil fuel is a general term for organic materials formed from decayed plants and

animals that have been converted into coal, oil or gas by exposure to heat and pressure

in Earth9s crust over hundreds of millions of years.

e Global warming describes the ongoing global average increase in temperature near

Earth9s surface.

e Greenhouse gases are gases that absorb infrared radiation in the atmosphere; some

examples include carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.

e Mitigation refers to human interventions to reduce the human impact on the climate

system, including strategies to reduce greenhouse gas sources and emissions.

e Weather is the atmospheric condition at any given time or place, measured in terms of

factors such as wind, temperature, humidity and precipitation.