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.