Glossary of Climate Change terms.

Abatement: Reduction in the quantity of greenhouse gas emissions

ACF: - See Australian Conservation Foundation

Additionality: Projects registered as carbon reduction projects under the Clean Development Mechanism and Joint Implementation Mechanism must cause a drop in emissions further to those which would have occurred in the absence of these mechanisms

Afforestation: Establishing and growing forests to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere on land which has not been forested in recent history. (cf. Reforestation)

Aerosols: Solid or liquid particles suspended within the atmosphere (see sulfate aerosols and black carbon aerosols). Aerosols have a net cooling effect, reducing solar radiation (global dimming) and increasing cloud cover. The term has also come to be associated, erroneously, with the propellant used in ?aerosol sprays.

Albedo: Refers to the ratio of light from the sun that is reflected by the Earth’s surface to the light received by it. Unreflected light is converted to infrared radiation (i.e., heat), which causes atmospheric warming (see ?radiative forcing?). Thus, surfaces with a high albedo (e.g., snow and ice) generally contribute to cooling, whereas surfaces with a low albedo (e.g., forests) generally contribute to warming. Changes in land use that significantly alter the characteristics of land surfaces can therefore influence the climate through changes in albedo.

Albedo flip: Rapid change in climate occurring for example when large areas of ice sheets are lost as a result of warming.

Algae: Unicellular or multicellular photosynthetic organisms formerly classified as plants. Important component of oceanic phytoplankton, accounting for half of all photosynthetic activity on Earth. Phytoplankton are responsible for much of the oxygen present in the Earth's atmosphere – half of the total amount produced by all plant life.

Anthropogenic global warming: (AGW) Global warming with the presumption of human influence.

Amazon: see Rainforest

Annex I Countries: The 40 countries plus the European Economic Community listed in Annex I of the UNFCCC that agreed to try to limit their GHG emissions. They are developed countries.

Antarctica: Earth's southernmost and fifth largest continent, underlying the South Pole. The East and West Antarctic ice sheets contain most of the world’s ice.

Assigned Amount: The tonnes of greenhouse gases, in CO² equivalents, that a country is allowed to emit during a commitment period (the first period is 2008-2012)

Australian Conservation Foundation: Non-profit, community-based environmental organisation - est. 1963. Focused on advocacy, policy research and community outreach. In the late 1990s, ACF undertook extensive world-wide research which resulted in the 2000 publication of Natural Advantage: A Blueprint for a Sustainable Australia http://www.acfonline.org.au

Biochar: is charcoal created by incomplete combustion of biomass, and differs from charcoal only in the sense that its primary use is not for fuel, but for biosequestration or atmospheric carbon capture and storage.

Biodiesel: Vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel.

Biodiversity: The variety of organisms found within a specified geographic region.

Biofuel: Ethanol, methanol, biodiesel, manufactured from biomass. Proposed as a sustainable fuel source because the emissions are part of the carbon cycle. See also Palm Oil

Biomass: The total dry organic matter or stored energy content of living organisms. Biomass can be used for fuel directly by burning it (e.g. wood), indirectly by fermentation to an alcohol (e.g. sugar) or extraction of combustible oils (e.g. soybeans).

Black Carbon Aerosols: Particles of carbon in the atmosphere produced by inefficient combustion of fossil fuels or biomass. Black carbon aerosols absorb light from the sun, shading and cooling the Earth’s surface, but contribute to significant warming of the atmosphere. See Radiative Forcing.

Brundtland Commission: Formally the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), known by the name of its Chair Gro Harlem Brundtland, was convened by the United Nations in 1983. The Report of the Brundtland Commission, Our Common Future, was published by Oxford University Press in 1987

“Business as usual”: Dangerous inaction on climate change based on the false assumption by business, governments and individuals that things will go on as they always have, and that the actions called for are unnecessary, impractical, unaffordable, or all three.

BZE - Beyond Zero Emissions: Victorian climate action group; authors of the The Zero Carbon Australia 2020 Stationary Energy Plan. http://www.beyondzeroemissions.org/

CANA - Climate Action Network Australia: Formed in 1998 to be the Australian branch of CAN Internatonal, is an alliance of over 65 regional, state and national environmental, health, community development, and research groups throughout Australia. http://www.cana.net.au/

Cap and Trade: See Emissions Cap; Emissions Trading Carbon: Chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. Basis of all known organiclife, and the pathways of the carbon cycle in the environment.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS): Alternatively referred to as carbon capture and sequestration, is a means of mitigating the contribution of fossil fuel emissions to globalwarming, based on capturing carbon dioxide from large point sources such as fossil fuel power plants, and storing it in such a way that it does not enter the atmosphere. It can also be used to describe the scrubbing of CO² from the atmosphere as a geoengineering technique.. Projects include capture in forests, land conservation, soil conservation and land use, waste CO2 recovery and injection into deep wells.

Carbon credit: Credits represent the right to emit a specific amount of greenhouse gases. Credits can be exchanged between businesses or bought and sold in the international market at the current market price.

Carbon cycle: The biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged between the earth, ocean, and atmosphere. One of the most important cycles of the earth, allowing for carbon to be recycled and reused throughout the biosphere and all of its organisms.

Carbon dioxide: Chemical formula CO² . A colourless, odourless, non-poisonous trace gas present in the Earth's atmosphere at a low concentration. It is a major component of the carbon cycle and acts as a greenhouse gas. Currently comprising (2010) 0.039% of the earth’s atmosphere (or 391 parts per million, ie. 110 ppm above the pre-industrial average).

Carbon Dioxide Equivalent (CO²e): Used to evaluate the impacts of releasing (or avoiding the release of) different greenhouse gases. The emissions of a gas, by weight, multiplied by its "global warming potential." CO² has been assigned a 100-year GWP of 1 (i.e., the warming effects over a 100-year time frame relative to other gases).

Carbon Dioxide Fertilization: The enhancement of the growth of plants as a result of increased atmospheric CO² concentration. Depending on their mechanism of photosynthesis, certain types of plants are more sensitive to changes in atmospheric CO² concentration

Carbon offset: A mechanism for individuals and businesses to neutralize rather than actually reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, eg., by planting trees, or by purchasing or trading the right to claim someone else's reductions as their own.

Carbon price: A price on greenhouse gas emissions to create a disincentive for their release (and incentive to capture or avoid them). A carbon price can be imposed through a carbon tax, an emissions trading scheme (which fixes emission level and allows price to vary) or a variety of other mechanisms.

Carbon Sequestration: see Carbon Capture and Storage

Carbon Sink: Any natural or artificial process or reservoir that removes and stores carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases or aerosols from the atmosphere. Forests are the most common form of sink, as well as soils, peat, permafrost, ocean water and carbonate deposits in the deep ocean.

Carbon Tax: see Carbon Price Carbon trading: see Emissions Trading CCN: See Community Climate Network CFC: See Chlorofluorocarbons.3

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs): CFCs are organic compounds that contain carbon, chlorine, and fluorine atoms. They are widely used as coolants in refrigeration and air conditioners, as solvents in cleaners, and as propellants in aerosols. CFCs are the main cause of stratospheric ozone depletion. One kilogram of the most commonly used CFCs may have a direct effect on climate thousands of times greater than that of one kilogram of CO². However, because CFCs also destroy ozone - itself a greenhouse gas - the actual effect on the climate is unclear.

Clean Development Mechanism: One of the three market mechanisms established by the Kyoto Protocol. The CDM is designed to promote sustainable development in developing countries and assist Annex I Parties in meeting their greenhouse gas emissions reduction commitments. It enables industrialized countries to invest in emission reduction projects in developing countries and to receive credits for reductions achieved.

Climate: The average and variations of weather in a region over long periods of time.

Climate adaptation: Refers to the ability of a system to adjust to climate change (including climate variability and extremes) to moderate potential damage, to take advantage of opportunities, or to cope with the consequences. Adaptation is not altogether passive, rather it is an active adjustment in response to new stimuli. However, while our present age must plan to adapt to the consequences of global warming,.there are other important proactive options. See Mitigation

Climate Change: Refers to changes in long-term trends in the average climate, such as changes in average temperatures or atmospheric composition whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity. Note: UNFCCC defines "climate change" as anthropogenic.

Climate Sensitivity: How responsive the temperature of the climate system is to a change in radiative forcing. The average global air surface temperature change resulting from a doubling of pre-industrial atmospheric CO² concentrations. The IPCC estimates climate sensitivity at 1.5-4.5°C (2.7-8.1oF).

Club of Rome: Global think tank that deals with a variety of international political issues, formed when a small international group of people from the fields of academia, civil society, diplomacy, and industry, met in 1968 at a villa in Rome, Italy. Famed for its 1972 report The Limits to Growth. Since 1 July 2008, the organization has its headquarters in Winterthur, Switzerland. http://www.clubofrome.org/eng/home/

Commitment Period: The period under the Kyoto Protocol during which Annex I Parties' GHG emissions, averaged over the period, must be within their emission targets. The first commitment period runs from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2012.

Commons: In old English law, communal land shared for the benefit of all. Global commons refers to resources essential to survival, that no one person or nation should control.

Conference of the Parties (COP): The supreme decision-making body comprised of the parties that have ratified the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. It meets on an annual basis. As of February 2010, it is comprised of 194 countries.

Community Climate Network (CCN): Organisation comprising over 100 Climate Action Groups throughout Australia. Established as process of Australian Climate Action Summit 2010. http://www.climatesummit.org.au/

Cooling: See Aerosols CSIRO: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation: The national government body for scientific research in Australia. http://www.csiro.au

Denialism: Psychological process of refusing to recognise that harmful events (such as climate change ) are actually happening. A defence mechanism in which the more dramatic the events, the stronger the denial.

Desertification: The degradation of land in arid and dry sub-humid areas, resulting primarily from natural activities and influenced by climatic variations

Dewpoint: The temperature at which water vapor condenses into water. Related to humidity. The higher the dewpoint, the more humid the weather.

Dimethyl sulfide: Gas released when ocean algae absorb carbon dioxide. Transformed into an aerosol contributing to cloud formation.

Ecosystem: A community of living organisms in a particular area together with the interactions between them and with the environment.

El Ni
-Southern Oscillation (ENSO): Extensive warming of the central and eastern Pacific in which oceanic and atmospheric circulation lead to a major shift in weather patterns. In Australia, and more so for eastern Australia, El Niño events are associated with an increased probability of drier conditions.

Emissions Cap: A mandated restraint in a scheduled timeframe that puts a ?ceiling? on the total amount of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions that can be released into the atmosphere. This can be measured as gross emissions or as net emissions (emissions minus gases that are sequestered).

Emissions Trading: A market mechanism that allows emitters (countries, companies or facilities) to buy emissions from or sell emissions to other emitters. Sets a total emissions target for an industry or region which is decreased over time. Emitters buy permits, and as the number of permits is reduced, the price increases, resulting in incentive to switch to low pollution technology. Emissions trading is expected to bring down the costs of meeting emission targets by allowing those who can achieve reductions less expensively to sell excess reductions (permits) to those for whom achieving reductions is more costly.

Entry Into Force: The point at which international climate change agreements become binding. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has entered into force. In order for the Kyoto Protocol to do so as well, 55 Parties to the Convention must ratify (approve, accept, or accede to) the Protocol, including Annex I Parties accounting for 55 percent of that group's carbon dioxide emissions in 1990. As of June 2003, 110 countries had ratified the Protocol, representing 43.9 percent of Annex I emissions.

Extreme weather event: An event that is rare within its statistical reference distribution at a particular place. Definitions of "rare" vary, but an extreme weather event would normally be as rare as or rarer than the 10th or 90th percentile. By definition, the characteristics of what is called extreme weather may vary from place to place. An extreme climate event is an average of a number of weather events over a certain period of time, an average which is itself extreme (eg, rainfall over a season).

Feedback: see Negative Feedback; Positive Feedback Forcing: see Radiative Forcing

Fossil fuels: Naturally occurring complex mixtures of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, and other organic compounds, found within the top layer of the Earth's crust. Examples include coal, oil (petroleum), and methane. Fossil fuels are non-renewable resources because they take millions of years to form, and fossil fuel reserves are being depleted much faster than new ones are being formed.

Friends of the Earth – FoE: World's largest grassroots network of environmental organisations in 77 countries. Founded in 1969 in the United States by David Brower after his split with the Sierra Club based in part on their reluctance to challenge the construction of nuclear power plants.

Gaia; Gaia Hypothesis: See Lovelock, James.

Global Carbon