Global Warming Definitions
Little Ice Age
A century-long period of cool climate that began in the 1590s. Its ill effects on agriculture in northern Europe were notable.
Greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas is a gas that absorbs and emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range. Greenhouse gases cause the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and ozone.
Atmosphere
A mixture of gases that surrounds a planet or moon.
mean surface temperature
Average of near surface temperatures and near sea temperatures.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Gases formed by human activity, including industry, that trap heat in the atmosphere and lead to climate change.
Gradual
happening over a period of time
Sudden
happening without warning
Fossil Fuels
Coal, oil, natural gas, and other fuels that are ancient remains of plants and animals.
Technologies
Complex machines used in the study and creation of art
Thermal Energy
Heat energy
Greenhouse effect
Natural situation in which heat is retained in Earth's atmosphere by carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and other gases
Solar Radiation
Transmission of energy from the sun in the form of electromagnetic waves.
Global climate change
Within scientific journals, global warming refers to surface temperature increases while climate change includes global warming and everything else that increasing greenhouse gas levels affect.
Behaviors
a person's actions or conduct
System
a set of things working together as parts of a mechanism or an interconnecting network.
Rate of change
describes how a quantity is changing over time
Physical
having to do with the body
global warming
is a long-term rise in the average temperature of the Earth's climate system, an aspect of climate change shown by temperature measurements and by multiple effects of the warming.
Biological
perspective that stresses links between biology and behavior
Solar activity
short-lived phenomena on the Sun, including the emergence and disappearance of individual sunspots, prominences, and flares; sometimes called solar weather
Inputs
the amount of something produced by a person, machine, or industry.
Volcanic activity
the formation and eruption of volcanoes
. Earth systems
the four main physical systems of the earth- hydrosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere, biosphere
Ecological footprint
the impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources.
Natural processes
the processes that are common in the speech development of children across languages
Carbon capture and storage
the removal of carbon from fossil-fuel combustion and storage of the carbon, usually underground
Human activities
things humans do that impact the environment
Mitigate
to make milder or softer, to moderate in force or intensity
Net Sink
A natural or artificial reservoir that accumulates or stores carbon.