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An aerosol is a collection of microscopic particles, solid or liquid, suspended in a gas.
In the context of air pollution, an aerosol refers to fine particulate matter, that is larger than a molecule, but small enough to remain suspended in the atmosphere for at least several hours.
The term aerosol is also commonly used for a pressurized container (aerosol can) which is designed to release a fine spray of a material such as paint. It has also come to be associated, erroneously, with the gas (propellant) used to expel materials from an aerosol can. (Source: GreenFacts )
The mass of air surrounding the Earth.
The atmosphere consists of nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%), and traces of other gases such as argon, helium, carbon dioxide, and ozone.
The atmosphere plays an important role in the protection of life on Earth; it absorbs ultraviolet solar radiation and reduces temperature extremes between day and night. (Source: GreenFacts)
Biodiversity is a contraction of biological diversity. Biodiversity reflects the number, variety and variability of living organisms.
It includes diversity within species (genetic diversity), between species (species diversity), and between ecosystems (ecosystem diversity). (Source: GreenFacts)
Renewable energy made from materials from biological sources. Wood, charcoal, manure and crop residues are all traditional forms of bioenergy.
Bioenergy carriers produced from crops like maize or sugarcane are known as biofuels, while biogas refers to the mixture of methane and carbon dioxide produced by the bacterial decomposition of organic wastes. (Source: GreenFacts )
A forest that grows in regions of the northern hemisphere with cold
temperatures. Made up mostly of cold tolerant coniferous species such as spruce
and fir.
(Source: LEAF Glossary
A colorless, odorless, non-combustible gas, present in low concentrations in the air we breathe (about three hundredths of one percent by volume).
Carbon dioxide is produced when any substance containing carbon is burned. It
is also a product of breathing and fermentation. Plants absorb carbon dioxide
through photosynthesis.
(Source: The Pacific Forest Trust
Glossary
Organic compounds made up of atoms of carbon, chlorine (Cl2), and
fluorine (F2). An example is CFC-12 (CCl2F2),
used as a refrigerant in refrigerators and air conditioners and as a foam
blowing agent. Gaseous CFCs can deplete the ozone layer when they slowly rise
into the stratosphere, are broken down by strong ultraviolet radiation, release
chlorine atoms, and then react with ozone molecules.
(Source:
US EPA
Glossary of Climate Change Terms
The long-term fluctuations in temperature, precipitation, wind, and all other aspects of the Earth's climate.
It is also defined by the United Nations Convention on Climate Change as
“change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity
that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to
natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods”
(Source:
CoRIS
glossary
The benefits people obtain from ecosystems.
These include provisioning services such as food and water; regulating
services such as flood and disease control; cultural services such as spiritual,
recreational, and cultural benefits; and supporting services such as nutrient
cycling that maintain the conditions for life on Earth.
(Source:
MA
The complex system of plant, animal, fungal, and microorganism communities and their associated non-living environment interacting as an ecological unit.
Ecosystems have no fixed boundaries; instead their parameters are set to the
scientific, management, or policy question being examined. Depending upon the
purpose of analysis, a single lake, a
watershed, or an entire region could be
considered an ecosystem.
(Source:
US EPA
Glossary of Climate Change Terms
A natural process in which elements are continuously cycled in various forms between different compartments of the environment (e.g., air, water, soil, organisms).
Examples include the carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycles (nutrient cycles) and the water cycle. (Source: GreenFacts)
Feedstock refers to the raw material that is required for some industrial process. (Source: GreenFacts )
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines “forest” as a portion of land bigger than half a hectare (5 000m2) with trees higher than 5 meters and a tree canopy cover of more than 10 %, or with trees that will be able to meet these criteria.
It does not include land that is predominantly under agricultural or urban land use.
A general term for buried combustible geologic deposits of organic materials,
formed from decayed plants and animals that have been converted to crude oil,
coal, natural gas, or heavy oils by exposure to heat and pressure in the Earth's
crust over hundreds of millions of years.
(Source:
US EPA
Glossary of Climate Change terms
The process of regulating human behavior in accordance with shared objectives.
The term includes both governmental and nongovernmental mechanisms.
(Source:
MA Glossary
Greenhouse gases are those gaseous constituents of the atmosphere, both natural and anthropogenic, that absorb and emit radiation at specific wavelengths within the spectrum of infrared radiation emitted by the Earth’s surface, the atmosphere and clouds.
This property causes the greenhouse effect.
Water vapour (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2),
nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4), and
ozone (O3) are the primary greenhouse gases
in the Earth’s atmosphere. Moreover there are a number of entirely human-made
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, such as the halocarbons and other
chlorine and bromine containing substances,
dealt with under the Montreal Protocol. Beside CO2, N2O and CH4, the
Kyoto Protocol deals with the greenhouse gases
sulphur hexafluoride (SF6),
hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs).
(Source:
IPCC
Glossary
An ice cap is a dome-shaped mass of glacier ice that spreads out in all directions; usually larger than an icefield but less than 50 000 km2.
An ice sheet is a dome-shaped mass of glacier ice that covers surrounding terrain and is greater than 50 000 km2, such as the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets.
A polar ice cap, also called polar ice sheet, is a high-latitude region of land or water covered in ice-
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been established by WMO and UNEP to assess scientific, technical and socio- economic information relevant for the understanding of climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation.
IPCC publications are prepared by three Working Groups (WG I, II and III)
composed of hundreds of scientists from many countries.
(Source:
IPCC website
The human use of a piece of land for a certain purpose (such as irrigated agriculture or recreation). Influenced by, but not synonymous with, land cover.
(Source:
MA
Methane is a colorless, flammable, nontoxic gas with the chemical formula CH4.
This gas is formed naturally by the decomposition of organic matter. Wetlands, livestock and energy are the main sources of methane emissions to the atmosphere, where it acts as a greenhouse gas.
Methane is also a major component of natural gas. It is mainly extracted from geological deposits for fuel and industrial uses (Source: GreenFacts )
Arsenic compounds containing carbon. They are mainly found in sea-living organisms, although some of these compounds have also been found in species living on land. (Source: GreenFacts)
Exposure pathway is the physical route by which a chemical substance transfers from a source to exposed organisms.
Potential pathways include air, surface water, groundwater, soil, plants, animals and humans. May not necessarily always refer to contaminants. (Source: GreenFacts)
A layer of soil or bedrock at a variable depth beneath the surface of the earth in which the temperature has been below freezing continuously from a few to several thousands of years.
The pronounced deprivation of well-being.
Income poverty refers to a particular formulation expressed solely in terms of
per capita or household income.
(Source:
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
Energy moving in the form of particles or waves. Familiar radiations are heat,
light, radio waves, and microwaves. Ionizing radiation is a
very high-energy form of electromagnetic radiation.
(Source:
US Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Glossary of Radiological Terms
Planting of forests on lands that have previously contained forest but have
since been converted to some other use.
(Source:
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
A group of organisms that differ from all other groups of organisms and that
are capable of breeding and producing fertile offspring. This is the smallest
unit of classification for plants and animals.
(Source:
OceanLink
Glossary of Common Terms and Definitions in Marine
Biology
The likelihood of producing a significantly larger-than-average response to a specified exposure to a substance.
A characteristic or state whereby the needs of the present and local population can be met without compromising the ability of future generations or populations in other locations to meet their needs.
When the combined effect of several forces operating is greater than the sum
of the separate effects of the forces.
(Source:
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
The part of the Earth's surface between the Arctic Circle and the Tropic of
Cancer or between the Antarctic Circle and the Tropic of Capricorn;
characterized by temperate climate [i.e. mild, moderate temperature; neither hot
nor cold].
(Source: WordNet Temperate
zone
The Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP) is an advisory body, established in 1969, that advises the United Nations (UN) system on the scientific aspects of marine environmental protection.
At present GESAMP is jointly sponsored by nine UN organizations with responsibilities relating to the marine environment, and they utilize GESAMP as a mechanism for coordination and collaboration among them. GESAMP functions are to conduct and support marine environmental assessments, to undertake in-depth studies, analyses, and reviews of specific topics, and to identify emerging issues regarding the state of the marine environment. GESAMP itself today consists of 16 experts, drawn from a wide range of relevant disciplines, who act in an independent and individual capacity. Studies and assessments are usually carried out by dedicated working groups, most of whose members are not sitting members of GESAMP but part of the broader GESAMP network.
GESAMP's UN sponsors: IMO, FAO, UNESCO-IOC, WMO, IAEA, UN, UNEP, UNIDO, UNDP.GESAMP
Source:
(Source:
www.gesamp.org/about
The World Ocean Review series is published by maribus, a non-profit company founded by the mareverlag publishing house. maribus is dedicated to raising the public’s awareness of interrelationships in marine science, thus contributing to a more effective protection of the seas. Our publications are not for sale, but are made available free of charge.
Contributions to the publications have been received from numerous partners and researchers whose many years’ involvement with the marine environment has put them at the cutting edge of science:
The purpose of our publications is to present scientifically robust knowledge in a form accessible to any reader, and thus to serve all those who wish to engage actively and knowledgably in debate on the issues surrounding marine science.
(Source:
http://worldoceanreview.com/en/
A type of ecosystem dominated by lichens, mosses, grasses, and woody plants.
Tundra is found at high latitudes (arctic tundra) and high altitudes (alpine tundra).
Arctic tundra is underlain by permafrost and is usually [water] saturated.
(Source:
ACIA
Exposure to contingencies and stress, and the difficulty in coping with them.
(Source:
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
The likelihood of being unusually severely affected by a substance either as a
result of susceptibility to the effects of these substances or as a result of a
greater than average [exposure].
(Source:
WHO Europe
Wikipedia an open-content encyclopedia in many languages. It is managed by Wikimedia Foundation Inc. which is "a non-profit corporation organized under the laws of Florida, USA".
Wikiverse
WWEA is an international non-profit association embracing the wind sector worldwide, with more than 600 members in around 100 countries. WWEA works for the promotion and worldwide deployment of wind energy technology.
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