Climate Management Issues

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Glossary

Adaptation: An adjustment in natural or human systems to a new or chang-

ing environment. Adaptation to climate change refers to adjustment

in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected cli-

matic changes.

Aerosols: Tiny bits of liquid or solid matter suspended in air. They come

from natural sources such as erupting volcanoes and from waste

gases emitted from automobiles, factories, and power plants. By

reecting sunlight, aerosols cool the climate and offset some of the

warming caused by greenhouse gases.

Albedo: The relative reectivity of a surface. A surface with high albedo

reects most of the light that shines on it and absorbs very little

energy; a surface with a low albedo absorbs most of the light energy

that shines on it and reects very little.

Anthropogenic: Made by people or resulting from human activities. This

term is usually used in the context of emissions that are produced as

a result of human activities.

Atmosphere: The thin layer of gases that surrounds the earth and allows

living organisms to breathe. It reaches 400 miles (644 km) above the

surface, but 80 percent is concentrated in the troposphere—the lower

7 miles (11 km) above the earth’s surface.

Baseline: The emission of greenhouse gases that would occur without the

contemplated policy intervention or project activity.

Biodiversity: Different plant and animal species.

Biomass: Plant material that can be used for fuel.

Bleaching (coral): The loss of algae from corals that causes the corals to turn

white. This is one of the results of global warming and signies a

die-off of unhealthy coral.

Carbon cycle: A complex series of processes through which all of the carbon

atoms in existence rotate. It is the biogeochemical cycle by which car-

bon is exchanged among the biosphere (living things), pedosphere

(soil component), geosphere (earth processes), hydrosphere (water

processes), and atmosphere of the earth. One of the most important

cycles of all the natural earth processes, it allows for carbon to be

recycled and reused.

Carbon dioxide (CO

2

): A colorless, odorless gas that forms when carbon

atoms combine with oxygen atoms. Carbon dioxide is a tiny, but

vital, part of the atmosphere. The heat-absorbing ability of carbon

dioxide is what makes life possible on earth.

Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO

2

e): The universal unit of measurement

used to indicate the global warming potential of each of the six