A
Abiotic – The non-living components of the environment (rocks, minerals, soil, water and climate)
Adaptation – Special traits that help living organisms survive in a particular environment. These adaptations may be structural (size and shape or body temperatures, or needs for minerals), or behavioural (differing ways of reacting to the environment). Adaptation to climate change refers to adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities.
Aerosols – Solid or liquid particles dispersed in the air, including dust, soot, sea salt crystals, spores, bacteria, viruses and other microscopic particles. Aerosols are often regarded as air pollution, but many aerosols have a natural origin.
Air – A mixture of gases and aerosols that composes the atmosphere surrounding Earth. The primary gases of dry air are nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%). Trace gases and aerosols make up the remaining 1%. The trace gases include argon, neon, helium, krypton and xenon; hydrogen; and the greenhouse gases. The water vapour content of air can also be significant, but is highly variable with time and from one region to the next.
Atmosphere – The mixture of gases and aerosols – the air – that surrounds the earth in layers, protecting us from dangerous cosmic rays, powerful ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun, and even meteors on collision course with earth. Although traces of atmospheric gases have been detected well out into space, 99% of the mass of the atmosphere lies below about 25 to 30 km in altitude, while 50% is concentrated in the lowest 5 km (less than the height of Mount Everest).
B
Biodiesel – A biofuel in which organically-derived oils (soybean or canola oils, animal fats, waste vegetable oils, or microalgae oils) are combined with alcohol and blended with conventional diesel fuel or used by itself (see also “Biomass power”)
Biogas – Gas, rich in methane, which is produced by the fermentation of animal dung, human sewage or crop residues in an airtight container. It is used as a fuel for stoves and lamps, to run small machines and to generate electricity. Biogas fuels do not usually cause pollution to the atmosphere, and because they come from renewable energy resources they have great potential for future use.
Biomass – The total quantity or mass of living material within a specified area at a given time.
Biomass power - Biofuel – Biomass power is energy produced by the burning of biofuels – plant material and animal waste, and specifically grown crops. Biomass material may include tree and grass crops, and forestry, agricultural and urban waste. It includes biogas, and other fuels such as wood, ethanol (an alcohol fuel made partly from corn), and agricultural waste. Unlike other renewable fuels, biofuel energy does release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but it only returns to the atmosphere as much as the plant removed through photosynthesis during its lifetime.
Biotic – Refers to something in the environment that is alive, such as animals, plants, or bacteria.
C
Carbon cycle – The combined processes – including photosynthesis, decomposition, and respiration – by which carbon moves between the atmosphere, oceans, and living organisms. For example, carbon (in the form of CO2 in plant sugar molecules) could be trapped in a plant. When that plant eventually dies and decays or burns, the carbon is once again released to the atmosphere. Living plants absorb carbon from the atmosphere, through photosynthesis, starting the cycle again. Over very long periods of time (millions of years) the biomass from plants is buried under sediment and placed under extreme pressure that allows it to eventually form coal. This carbon is then removed from the active carbon cycle. Coal can be extracted from the earth and burned, thus releasing CO2 into the atmosphere and returning it to the active cycle.
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) – A heavy colourless gas that is formed especially in animal respiration and in the decay or combustion of animal and vegetable matter. CO2 is absorbed from the air by plants in photosynthesis. It’s one of the greenhouse gases.
Carbon sink – Carbon sinks are areas that absorb and hold onto lots of carbon dioxide – oceans, soil and forests. A carbon “sink” can become a carbon “source.” For example, a growing forest is a carbon sink as it absorbs more carbon than it releases. But when it burns, it becomes a carbon “source” as it releases lots of carbon into the atmosphere. (See “Carbon cycle.”)
Climate – The average weather for a particular region and time period. In other words, climate is the weather you would expect to have in a particular region. Many aspects of the Earth's geography affect the climate. Equatorial, or low, latitudes are hotter than the polar latitudes because of the angle at which the rays of sunlight arrive at the Earth's surface. The difference in temperature at the equator and at the poles has an influence on the global circulation of huge masses of air.
Climate Action Package (20-20-20 UE Package) - In March 2007 the EU’s leaders endorsed an integrated approach to climate and energy policy that aims to combat climate change and increase the EU’s energy security while strengthening its competitiveness. They committed Europe to transforming itself into a highly energy-efficient, low carbon economy.
The "20-20-20" targets
To kick-start this process, the EU Heads of State and Government set a series of demanding climate and energy targets to be met by 2020, known as the "20-20-20" targets. These are:
- A reduction in EU greenhouse gas emissions of at least 20% below 1990 levels
- 20% of EU energy consumption to come from renewable resources
- A 20% reduction in primary energy use compared with projected levels, to be achieved by improving energy efficiency.
The climate and energy package
In January 2008 the European Commission proposed binding legislation to implement the 20-20-20 targets. This ‘climate and energy package’ was agreed by the European Parliament and Council in December 2008 and became law in June 2009.
The core of the package comprises four pieces of complementary legislation:
- A revision and strengthening of the Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), the EU's key tool for cutting emissions cost-effectively.
A single EU-wide cap on emission allowances will apply from 2013 and will be cut annually, reducing the number of allowances available to businesses to 21% below the 2005 level in 2020. The free allocation of allowances will be progressively replaced by auctioning, and the sectors and gases covered by the system will be somewhat expanded.
- An 'Effort Sharing Decision’ governing emissions from sectors not covered by the EU ETS, such as transport, housing, agriculture and waste.
Under the Decision each Member State has agreed to a binding national emissions limitation target for 2020 which reflects its relative wealth. The targets range from an emissions reduction of 20% by the richest Member States to an increase in emissions of 20% by the poorest. These national targets will cut the EU’s overall emissions from the non-ETS sectors by 10% by 2020 compared with 2005 levels. - Binding national targets for renewable energy which collectively will lift the average renewable share across the EU to 20% by 2020 (more than double the 2006 level of 9.2%). The targets will contribute to decreasing the EU’s dependence on imported energy and to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
- A legal framework to promote the development and safe use of carbon capture and storage (CCS).
CCS is a promising family of technologies that capture the carbon dioxide emitted by industrial processes and store it in underground geological ormations where it cannot contribute to global warming. The EU plans to set up a network of CCS demonstration plants by 2015 to test its viability, with the aim of commercial update of CCS by around 2020.
Revised EU guidelines on state aid for environmental protection, issued at the same time as the legislative package was proposed, enable governments to provide financial support for CCS pilot plants.
The climate and energy package creates pressure to improve energy efficiency but does not address it directly. This is being done through the EU’s energy efficiency action plan.
Climate change – Climate change is a change in the “average weather” that a given region experiences. This term refers to any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity. When we speak of climate change on a global scale, we are referring to changes in the climate of the Earth as a whole, including temperature increases (global warming) or decreases, and shifts in wind patterns and precipitation.
CO2 – See “Carbon Dioxide.”
Convection – The transfer of heat by the movement of heated liquid or gas. Vertical rising of heat energy (heat convection) in the atmosphere occurs when a shallow layer of air in contact with a hot surface warms up, becomes more buoyant (warmer air is less dense than colder air), and rises, taking with it the energy that it has stored.
Conference of the Parties (COP)
The supreme body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It currently meets once a year to review the Convention's progress. The word "conference" is not used here in the sense of "meeting" but rather of "association," which explains the seemingly redundant expression "fourth session of the Conference of the Parties."
D
Deforestation – Deforestation is the long-term removal of trees from an area because of changes in land use. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by photosynthesis, helping to regulate the greenhouse effect. Deforestation releases significant amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere because of soil disturbance, burning, and removal of above ground biomass from the ecosystem.
Desertification – Long-term damage to dry lands caused by drought (long periods without any rain) and by human activities such as over cultivation, deforestation, and poor irrigation practices that turn the land into a desert, unable to grow anything. Existing dry lands, which cover over 40% of the total land area of the world, mainly in Africa and Asia, are most at risk for desertification resulting from drought caused by climate change.
E
Ecosystem – The community of all of the living things in an area. It includes surroundings, plus all the ways in which the living things interact with each other and their surroundings.
Energy – Energy comes in different forms: heat (thermal), light (radiant), mechanical, electrical, chemical, and nuclear. There are two types of energy: stored (potential) energy and working (kinetic) energy. For example, the energy from the food that you eat is stored in your body as chemical energy until you use it. Much of the energy we use comes from non-renewable sources such as fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas). Renewable energy sources include solar power, wind power and hydroelectric power.
Energy audit – An assessment of how much energy your home consumes, combined with suggestions on how you can make your home more energy-efficient.
F
Feedback loops (positive and negative) – In the climate system a “feedback loop” refers to a pattern of interacting processes where a change in one variable, through interaction with other variables in the system, either reinforces the original process (positive feedback) or suppresses the process (negative feedback). For example, increased global warming will cause increased evaporation, leading to increased cloud cover. This increased cloud cover could have a positive feedback effect on global warming, because it will insulate the earth, keeping more heat in. But it could also have a negative feedback effect, because clouds have a lot of reflectivity, and could reflect more solar energy into space.
Fossil fuels – Fossil fuels are fuels containing carbon – coal, oil and gas – that were formed over millions of years through the decay, burial and compaction of rotting vegetation on land, and of marine organisms on the sea floor. Burning fossil fuels is the major way in which humans add to the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
G
Geothermal energy – Power generated by the harnessing of heat from the interior of the earth when it comes to the earth’s surface. The regions with highest underground temperatures are in areas with active or geologically young volcanoes.
GHGs – See “Greenhouse gases.”
GHG emissions – The greenhouse gases we discharge into the air. The major emission adding to the greenhouse effect is carbon dioxide (CO2), but other emissions, such as methane and nitrous oxide, absorb energy more efficiently than CO2 and thus have a higher impact per amount emitted.
Global warming – The earth has warmed up by about 0.6ºC in the last 100 years. During this period, human emissions of greenhouse gases have increased, largely as a result of the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. Scientists now think that these increased emissions, leading to the enhanced greenhouse effect, are the cause of global warming.
Greenhouse effect – The effect produced by greenhouse gases allowing incoming solar energy to pass through the Earth’s atmosphere, but preventing most of the outgoing heat from the Earth from escaping into outer space. This effect, which is necessary to maintain life on earth, helps to keep the Earth 33ºC warmer than it would be without the presence of an atmosphere. Unfortunately, because of excess GHG emissions, the GHGs are now trapping too much heat. This is sometimes called the enhanced greenhouse effect.
Greenhouse gases (GHGs) – Gases such as water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, that allow incoming solar radiation to pass through the Earth’s atmosphere, but prevent most of the outgoing infrared (heat) radiation from the surface and lower atmosphere from escaping into outer space.
H
Habitat – The natural environment of a plant or animal, including its food supply, climate, and shelter.
Hydropower – Hydroelectric energy uses the force of moving water to create electricity. Generally, the water is dammed and released in controlled amounts through a system of turbines. Large-scale hydropower currently accounts for about 20% of the world’s electricity supply.
I
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – A panel set up by the United Nations in 1988 to review scientific information on climate change. This panel involves over 2,000 of the world’s climate experts.
K
Kyoto Protocol – In December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, industrial nations agreed to reduce their collective emissions of greenhouse gases by 5.2% from 1990 levels by the period 2008 to 2012. The Kyoto Protocol also establishes three innovative 'mechanisms', known as joint implementation, emissions trading and the clean development mechanism, which are designed to help the countries reduce the costs of meeting their emissions targets. With Russia's ratification on 18 November 2004 the treaty brought into force, effective 16 February 2005. As of November 2009, 187 states and one regional economic organization (the European Commission) have signed and ratified it. The European Union ratified in May 2002. The United States has decided not to ratify the Protocol.
M
Methane – A colourless, odourless, non-toxic gas that is produced by organic matter decomposing in an environment without much oxygen – a landfill or a swamp, for instance. Methane is one of the greenhouse gases, and is the main ingredient in natural gas. Methane is also a biogas fuel, a renewable energy source, increasingly used as a source of power on large farms where there is lots of animal manure.
Mitigation - Any procedure or action undertaken to reduce the adverse impacts that a project or activity may have on the environment. Examples of mitigation efforts include wind farms, reforestation projects and harvesting methane from landfills. Each of these examples provides indirect benefits to local populations including better air quality and cleaner water.
N
Nitrous Oxide – A colourless, non-flammable gas with a sweetish odour, commonly known as “laughing gas,” and sometimes used as an anaesthetic. Oceans and rainforests naturally produce nitrous oxide. Nitrous oxide is produced by a range of human activities including: nylon and nitric acid production; the use of fertilizers in agriculture, use of catalytic converters in cars and the burning of organic matter. As are carbon dioxide and methane, nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas.
Non-renewable energy – Energy that can be used only once. Most non-renewable sources of energy (oil, gas and coal) produce greenhouse gases when they are used.
P
Photosynthesis – The process by which green plants use light to synthesize organic compounds from carbon dioxide and water. In the process, oxygen and water are released. Plants create a very important reservoir (or “sink”) for carbon dioxide.
Photovoltaic cells – Cells, usually made of specially-treated silicon, that transfer solar energy from the sun to electrical energy.
R
Renewable energy – Energy that comes from sources such as sun, wind and falling water – sources available in an unlimited supply.
S
Solar power – Energy derived directly from the sun. Passive solar heating involves the design of homes and other buildings to make full use of direct sunlight for heating purposes. Houses can be designed with large windows in the south facing walls and small windows in the north facing walls, reducing the need for other heating sources such as electricity or fossil fuels. Active solar heating includes the use of solar panels to heat large tanks of water mainly for domestic hot water systems and swimming pools. Active solar radiation also includes the use of photovoltaic cells, where the solar energy is converted to electricity.
T
Tidal energy – Tidal changes in sea level can be used to generate electricity by constructing dams across coastal bays or estuaries which have large differences between low and high tides. The difference in water levels creates water pressure that can drive turbines, creating electricity.
U
UNFCC - Over a decade ago, most countries joined an international treaty - the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - to begin to consider what can be done to reduce global warming and to cope with whatever temperature increases are inevitable. More recently, a number of nations approved an addition to the treaty: the Kyoto Protocol, which has more powerful (and legally binding) measures. The UNFCCC secretariat supports all institutions involved in the climate change process, particularly the COP, the subsidiary bodies and their Bureau.
W
Weather – The specific condition of the atmosphere at a particular place and time. It is measured in terms of such things as wind, temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, cloudiness, and precipitation.
Wind power – Air moves around the earth because of the differences in temperature and atmospheric pressure that exist. Wind turbines harness the movement of air to produce energy.
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