Unit 9-Global Change Vocab Flashcards
Aerosols
Very fine liquid droplets or solid particles aloft in the atmosphere
Biodiversity
The variety of life across all levels of biological organization, including the diversity of species, their genes, their populations, and their communities.
Cap-and-Trade
A permit trading system in which government determines an acceptable level of pollution and then issues polluting parties permits to pollute. A company receives credit for amounts it does not emit and can then sell this credit to other companies. A type of emissions trading system.
Captive Breeding
The practice of capturing member of threatened and endangered species so that their young can be bred and raised in controlled environments and subsequently reintroduced into the wild
Carbon Capture
Technologies or approaches that remove carbon dioxide from power plant or other emissions, in an effort to mitigate global climate change.
Carbon Neutrality
The state in which an individual, business, or institution emits no net carbon to the atmosphere. This may be achieved by reducing carbon emissions and/or employing carbon offsets to offset emissions.
Carbon Sequestration/Carbon Storage
Technologies or approaches to sequester, or store, carbon dioxide from industrial emissions(e.g., underground under pressure in locations where it will not seep out) in an effort to mitigate global climate change. We are still a long way from developing adequate technology and secure storage space to accomplish this.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
A type of halo-carbon consisting of only chlorine, fluorine, carbon, and hydrogen. CFC’s were used as refrigerants, fire extinguishers, propellants for aerosol spray cans, cleaners for electronics, and for making polystyrene foam. They were phased out under the Montreal Protocol because they are ozone-depleting substances that destroy stratospheric ozone.
Coral Reef
A mass of calcium carbonate composed of the skeletons of tiny colonial marine organisms called corals
Ecological Restoration
Efforts to reverse the effects of human disruption of ecological systems and to restore communities to their condition before the disruption. The practice that applies principles of restoration ecology.
Endangered Species
A species of animal or plant that is seriously at risk of extinction
Extinction
The disappearance of an entire species from Earth
Global Climate Change
Systematic change in aspects of Earth’s climate, such as temperature, precipitation, and storm intensity. Generally refers today to the current warming trend in global temperatures and the many associated climatic changes.
Global Warming
An increase in Earth’s average surface temperature. The term is most frequently used in reference to the pronounced warming trend of recent years and decades. Global warming is one aspect of global climate change and in turn drives other components of climate change.
Greenhouse Effect
The warming of Earth’s surface and atmosphere(especially the troposphere) caused by the energy emitted by greenhouse gases
Greenhouse Gases
A gas that absorbs infrared radiation released by Earth’s surface and then warms the surface and troposphere by emitting energy, thus giving rise to the greenhouse effect. Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide (CO2), water vapor, ozone(O3), nitrous oxide(N20), halocarbon gases, and methane(CH4).
Habitat Fragmentation
The process by which an expanse of natural habitat becomes broken up into discontinuous fragments, often as a result of farming, logging, road building, and other types of human development and land use.
Introduced Species
Species introduced by human beings from one place to another(whether intentionally or by accident). A minority of introduced species may become invasive species.
Invasive Species
A species that spreads widely and rapidly becomes dominant in a community, interfering with the community’s normal functioning.
Milankovitch Cycles
One of three types of variations in Earth’s rotation and orbit around the sun that result in slight changes in the relative amount of solar radiation reaching Earth’s surface at different latitudes. As the cycles proceed, they change the way solar radiation is distributed over Earth’s surface and contribute to changes in atmospheric heating and circulation that have triggered glaciations and other climate changes.
Montreal Protocol
International treaty ratified in 1987 in which 180(now 196) signatory nations agreed to restrict production of chlorofluorocarbons(CFC’s) in order to halt stratospheric ozone depletion. This was a protocol of the Vienna Convection for the Protection of the Ozone Layer. The Montreal Protocol is widely considered the most successful effort to date in addressing a global environmental problem.
Ocean Acidification
The process by which today’s ocean are becoming more acidic(attaining lower pH) as a result of increased carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere. Ocean acidification occurs as ocean water absorbs CO2 from the air and forms carbonic acid. This impairs the ability of corals and other organisms to build exoskeletons of calcium carbonate, imperiling coral reefs and the many organisms that depend on them.
Ozone-Depleting Substances
Airborne chemicals, such as halocarbons, that destroy ozone molecules and thin the ozone layer in the stratosphere.
Ozone Layer
A portion of the stratosphere, roughly 17-30 km (10-19 mi) above sea level, that contains most of the ozone in the atmosphere.
Proxy Indicators
A source of indirect evidence that serves as a proxy, or substitute, for direct measurement and that sheds light on past climate. Examples include data from ice cores, sediment cores, tree rings, packrat middens, and coral reefs.
Threatened Species
A plant or animal species generally perceived as likely, in the near future, to become endangered within all or much of its range
Vulnerable Species
A vulnerable species is a species which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature that is threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatening its survival and reproduction improve.
