The glossary is here to help you understand all of the frequent terms that I, and other climate enthusiasts, use. I’ll keep it updated as I publish my blogs!
The definitions are typically taken from the IPCC glossary, with some small tweaks to make it more accessible.
A-D
Adaptive capacity
The ability of systems, institutions, humans and other organisms to adjust to potential damage, to take advantage of opportunities, or to respond to consequences.
Anthropocene
The ‘Anthropocene’ is a proposed new geological epoch resulting from significant human-driven changes to the structure and functioning of the Earth System, including the climate system.
Anthropogenic
Resulting from or produced by human activities.
Biodiversity
The variability among living organisms and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems
Carbon dioxide removal
Anthropogenic activities removing CO2 from the atmosphere and durably storing it in geological, terrestrial, or ocean reservoirs, or in products.
Carbon sink
A reservoir (natural or human, in soil, ocean, and plants) where a greenhouse gas, an aerosol or a precursor of a greenhouse gas is stored.
Climate
The average weather, or more rigorously, as the statistical description in terms of the mean and variability of relevant quantities over a period of time ranging from months to thousands or millions of years.
Climate adaptation
The process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects
Climate change
A change in the state of the climate that can be identified and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer.
Climate crisis/emergency
A term used to describe climate change to highlight the urgency and gravity of the issue and to encourage more ambitious and urgent action
Climate justice
Justice that links development and human rights to achieve a human-centred approach to addressing climate change, safeguarding the rights of the most vulnerable people and sharing the burdens and benefits of climate change and its impacts equitably and fairly.
Climate mitigation
A human intervention to reduce emissions or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases
Climate model
A numerical representation of the climate system based on the physical, chemical and biological properties of its components, their interactions and feedback processes, and accounting for some of its known properties.
Climate risk (physical and transition)
Physical risk – the risks associated with the physical impacts from climate change, including extreme weather events (e.g. flooding), as well as the impacts of long-term changes to the climate (e.g. rising sea levels).
Transition risk – the risks associated with transitioning to a lower carbon economy or the risks surrounding our response to climate change. For example, market shifts due to consumer preference for more ecofriendly products.
Decarbonisation
The process by which countries, individuals or other entities aim to achieve zero fossil carbon existence.
Deforestation, afforestation, reforestation
Deforestation – conversion of forest to non-forest.
Afforestation – planting of new forests on lands that historically have not contained forests.
Reforestation – planting of forests on lands that have previously contained forests but that have been converted to some other use.
E-H
Ecosystem
A functional unit consisting of living organisms, their non-living environment and the interactions within and between them.
Ecosystem services
Ecological processes or functions having monetary or non-monetary value to individuals or society at large. For example, rice for food or timber for building construction.
Equality
A principle that ascribes equal worth to all human beings, including equal opportunities, rights, and obligations, irrespective of origins.
Equity
The principle of fairness in burden sharing and is a basis for understanding how the impacts and responses to climate change, including costs and benefits, are distributed in and by society in more or less equal ways.
Fossil fuels
Carbon-based fuels from fossil hydrocarbon deposits, including coal, oil, and natural gas.
Governance
A concept of the full range of means for deciding, managing, implementing and monitoring policies and measures. Whereas government is defined strictly in terms of the nation-state, governance recognises the contributing roles of different individuals (e.g. the private sector, civil society) to addressing the many types of issues facing the global community.
Greenhouse gas (GHG)
The gaseous constituents of the atmosphere, both natural and anthropogenic, that absorb and emit radiation at specific wavelengths within the spectrum of terrestrial radiation emitted by the Earth’s surface, the atmosphere itself and by clouds.
Human rights
Rights that are inherent to all human beings, universal, inalienable, and indivisible, typically expressed and guaranteed by law. They include the right to life; economic, social, and cultural rights; and the right to development and self-determination.
I-L
Inequality
Uneven opportunities and social positions, and processes of discrimination within a group or society, based on gender, class, ethnicity, age, and (dis)ability, often produced by uneven development.
M-Q
Ocean acidification
A reduction in the pH of the ocean, caused primarily by uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, but can also be caused by other chemical additions or subtractions from the ocean.
Paris Agreement
An agreement from COP21 (December 2015l; Paris, France) which was adopted by 196 Parties to the UNFCCC. One of the goals of the Paris Agreement is ‘Holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels’, recognising that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change. Additionally, the Agreement aims to strengthen the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change.
R-U
Resilience
The capacity of social, economic and environmental systems to cope with a hazardous event or trend or disturbance, responding or reorganising in ways that maintain their essential function, identity and structure while also maintaining the capacity for adaptation, learning and transformation.
Risk
The potential for adverse consequences where something of value is at stake and where the occurrence and degree of an outcome is uncertain.
Hazard – The potential occurrence of a natural or human-induced physical event or trend that may cause loss of life, injury, or other health impacts, as well as damage and loss to property, infrastructure, livelihoods, service provision, ecosystems and environmental resources.
Exposure – the presence of people; livelihoods; species or ecosystems; environmental functions, services, and resources; infrastructure; or economic, social, or cultural assets in places and settings that could be adversely affected.
Vulnerability – The propensity or predisposition to be adversely affected. Vulnerability encompasses a variety of concepts and elements including sensitivity or susceptibility to harm and lack of capacity to cope and adapt.
Risk management
Plans, actions, strategies or policies to reduce the likelihood and/or consequences of risks or to respond to consequences.
Sustainability
A dynamic process that guarantees the persistence of natural and human systems in an equitable manner.
Sustainable development
Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs and balances social, economic and environmental concerns.
Tipping point
A level of change in system properties beyond which a system reorganises, often abruptly, and does not return to the initial state even if the drivers of the change are abated. For the climate system, it refers to a critical threshold when global or regional climate changes from one stable state to another stable state.
The Climate Communicator 