Climate Change: Glossary of Terms

RENEWAL NEWS NETWORK brings you a glossary of terms commonly used in association with climate change (Part 1):

• ADAPTATION is the process of adjusting to the current or predicted climate and its effects in order to minimise harm or take advantage of beneficial opportunities. 
• ANTHROPOGENIC: Caused by humanity or human activity; human-made. (For example, anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions have significantly increased global warming since 1850, when proper industrialisation was believed to have started.)
• BIODIVERSITY: The diversity of life on Earth, encompassing the range of genes, species, ecosystems, and the ecological processes that sustain them. 
• BIOFUEL: The fuel that is made directly from living matter. (Examples: Ethanol, Bioethanol, Biodiesel, Bio-ethers, Wood, Biohydrogen, Biogas, et cetera.)
• CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2) is a gas that exists naturally and is produced as a byproduct of burning biomass and fossil fuels, altering land use, and other industrial processes. It is the primary human-made greenhouse gas that modifies the radiative balance of the Earth.
• CARBON FOOTPRINT: The entire quantity of greenhouse gases released by a person, group, activity, occasion, or item. 
• CLIMATE CHANGE is the long-term alteration of the Earth’s climate system, including variations in temperature, precipitation, wind patterns, and other factors.
• DECARBONIZATION is the process of reducing or stopping carbon dioxide emissions associated with a country’s economy.   
• DEFORESTATION is the process by which forested land is transformed into non-forested land, typically as a result of human endeavours like mining, logging, agriculture, or urban growth.  Deforestation releases CO2 into the atmosphere and decreases the amount of carbon stored in soil and trees.
• EMISSIONS: The release of gases (usually greenhouse gases and/or their precursors) into the atmosphere over a specified area and period of time.
• ECOSYSTEM: A group or community of interdependent living things and inanimate objects that make up their habitat.
• FEEDBACK is the process by which a change to one part of a system impacts another part, which in turn impacts the first part, and so on.  Positive feedback expands the original change, while negative feedback reduces it.
• FOSSIL FUELS: Natural fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas that come    from the remains of ancient plants and animals. 
• GLOBAL WARMING refers to the recent and continuing increase in the average global surface temperature. 
• GREEN HOUSE EFFECT: The natural process by which the atmosphere traps some of the sun’s energy, warming the Earth and making life possible.  The average temperature of Earth would be around -18°C if the greenhouse effect did not exist. Because of human activity, atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases have increased, amplifying the greenhouse effect and hastening the onset of global warming.
• GREENHOUSE GASES are gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases.
• HYDROFLUOROCARBONS (HFCs): These are human-made greenhouse gases used in air conditioning, refrigeration, foam blowing, and aerosols.