Languages:
The process of taking in. For a
person or an animal, absorption is the process of a substance getting into the
body through the eyes, skin, stomach, intestines, or lungs.
(Source:
ATSDR
Glossary of Terms
The establishment of a forest through tree planting or seeding on land that has lacked forest cover for a very long time or has never been forested. (Source: GreenFacts)
A class of natural or man-made substances, such as penicillin, that kill or
inhibit the growth of some micro-organisms.
(Source: GreenFacts, based on CoRIS,
Glossary
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)
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
Fairness of rights, distribution, and access. Depending on context, this can
refer to resources, services, or power.
(Source:
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
"ECHA is the driving force among regulatory authorities in implementing the
EU's groundbreaking chemicals legislation for the benefit of human health and
the environment as well as for innovation and competitiveness. ECHA helps
companies to comply with the legislation, advances the safe use of chemicals,
provides information on chemicals and addresses chemicals of concern."
(Source:
https://echa.europa.eu/home
"The European Commission (EC) embodies and upholds the general interest of the [European] Union and is the driving force in the Union's institutional system. Its four main roles are to propose legislation to Parliament and the Council, to administer and implement Community policies, to enforce Community law (jointly with the Court of Justice) and to negotiate international agreements, mainly those relating to trade and cooperation."
The Commission's staff is organised into 36 Directorates-General (DGs) and
specialised services, such as the Environment DG and the Research DG.
(Source:
EC website
A particular kind of fishing activity, e.g., a trawl fishery or a particular species targeted, e.g., a cod fishery or salmon fishery.
(Source:
MA
The interconnected food chains (feeding relationships) in an ecosystem. Plants, herbivores, and carnivores all form parts of the food web. (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
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
The frequency of a disease may be measured in two (standard) ways:
- Incidence is the number of new cases detected in the population at risk for the disease during a specific period.
- Prevalence
(Source:
Health canada
Diabetes in
Canada
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Energy Initiative (MITEI) was built according to a template laid out in the 2006 Report of the Energy Research Council commissioned by President Hockfield. The report called for new approaches to multidisciplinary research, education across school and department boundaries, a more energy efficient campus reached in part through student-led projects, and outreach to the policy world through technically grounded analysis. It also emphasized the importance of another MIT strength – partnering with industry as a prime locus for the clean energy transformation needed to address economic, environmental, and security concerns associated with the current energy system.
(Source:
http://mitei.mit.edu
The approximately 20 chemical elements
known to be essential for the growth of living organisms, including nitrogen,
sulfur, phosphorus, and carbon.
(Source:
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
Glossary
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are chemical substances that persist in the environment, bioaccumulate through the food web, and pose a risk of causing adverse effects to human health and the environment. This group of priority pollutants consists of pesticides (such as DDT), industrial chemicals (such as polychlorinated biphenyls, PCBs) and unintentional by-products of industrial processes (such as dioxins and furans).
Persistent Organic Pollutants are transported across international boundaries
far from their sources, even to regions where they have never been used or
produced.
(Source:
European Commission
Environment DG
POPs
A toxic chemical product that kills
harmful organisms (e.g., insecticides,
fungicide, weedicides, rodenticides, acaricides).
(Source:
FAO
Glossary of biotechnology & genetic
engineering
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
Production is the process of creating, growing, manufacturing, or improving goods and services. It also refers to the quantity produced.
In economics, productivity is used to measure the efficiency or rate of production. It is the amount of output (e.g. number of goods produced) per unit of input (e.g. labor, equipment, and capital).
In biology, productivity is a measure of the efficiency with which a biological system converts energy into growth. (Source: GreenFacts)
Transformation of fish into fish meal and oil.
(Source:
FAO
Fisheries Glossary
Energy produced from sources that can be renewed indefinitely, for example,
hydro-, solar, geothermal, and wind power, as well as sustainably produced
biomass.
(Source:
FAO
Refers to the amount of disturbance or stress that an ecosystem can absorb and
still remain capable of returning to its pre- disturbance state.
(Source: GreenFacts, based on 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
Individuals or groups that are affected by a decision and have an interest in
its outcome.
(Source:
TDM Encyclopedia
Glossary
Financial assistance (often from governmental bodies) to businesses, citizens, or institutions to encourage a desired activity deemed beneficial. (Source: GreenFacts)
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 Convention on Climate Change sets an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by climate change. It recognizes that the climate system is a shared resource whose stability can be affected by industrial and other emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The Convention enjoys near universal membership, with 191 countries having ratified.
Under the Convention, governments:
The Convention entered into force on 21 March 1994.
(Source:
UNFCCC
 Biological diversity (Part 3): challenges 2050 |  Biological diversity (Part 2): the objectives, actions and means at the horizon 2030 |  Biological diversity (Part 1): the context of the Convention |
This summary is free and ad-free, as is all of our content. You can help us remain free and independant as well as to develop new ways to communicate science by becoming a Patron!
BECOME A PATRON!