Environmental Science 17

atomic chlorine

Chlorine atoms influence cycles that are linked to ozone destruction; this greenhouse gas is potentially toxic plant and animal life

Greenhouse gases

Gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and CFCs that are relatively transparent to the higher-energy sunlight, but trap lower-energy infrared radiation

Heat

Infrared radiation

Ice ages

Intervals in the history of the Earth, especially during the last two million years, when the avg global surface temperatures were lower than they are currently and continental ice sheets were much more extensive than they are today

UV

Relatively high-energy, short-wavelength, electromagnetic radiation (light). UV= 200-400nm

carbon tax

a tax levied on fossil fuels (or any fuels) in proportion to the amount of carbon emitted during combustion

Nimbus-7

A NASA satellite that confirmed the depletion of the ozone layer over the S. Pole in the 1980s

Melanoma

A condition of malignant skin cancer

cataracts

A condition where the lens of the eye becomes opaque

UN Framework Conventation on Climate Change (UN FCCC)

A convention agreed by to many nations at the 1992 Earth Summit. Although the convention does not establish legal obligations or specific target dates, it requires signing countries to use their best efforts to control emissions of GHGs

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

A large, international group of officials, scientists, and other researchers who, under the auspices of the UN, have been investigating the issue of global climate change , particularly potential future global warming

Ozone layer

A layer of ozone in the stratosphere, most concentrated at an altitude between about 12 and 16 miles

Little Ice Age

A period in Earth history, beginning in late medieval/early renaissance times and ending only two or three years ago, during which avg global temperatires were slightly lower then immediately before or after

CFCs

Artificially produced compounds primarily of carbon, fluorine, and chlorine

chlorine

A reactive element, found in chlorofluorcarbons and other substances, that has been implicated as a prime factor in the deterioration of the ozone layer

Ozone

An O3 molecule. Contributes to air pollution in the troposphere, but is an important natural component of the stratosphere

Montreal Protocol

An agreement reached in 1987 at a meeting in Montreal, Canada, whereby a number of industrialized countries pledged to freeze CFC production at 1986 levels and then gradually decrease CFC production to 50% of 1986 levels by 1999.

Kyoto Protocol

An amendment to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which brings together industrial and developing countries to lower their GHG emissions in a unified fashion

General circulation models (GCMs)

Complex mathematical models that, with the help of supercomputers, simulate the Earth's climatic patterns

Radiation

Electromagnetic radiation; includes visible light, heat, UV, gamma, Xrays, and so forth. Emission of particles

Light pollution

Excess "waste" light given off by outside sources (or sources visible from the outside) at night

Infrared radiation

Low-energy, long-wavelength electromagnetic radiation that humans perceive as heat

Nitrogen oxides

NOx, important components of both lower atmospheric pollution and the upper atmospheric GHGs that promote global warming

Methane

Natural gas, a fossil fuel and potent greenhouse gas

aerosol spray

Products that are sprayed as a fine mist during use, such as canned spray paints, deodorants, and so forth

carbon emissions

The emission of carbon, primarily as carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere during the burning of fossil fuels and other organic matter and similar activities

Troposphere

The lowermost thermal layer of the atmosphere, wherein temperatures normally decline with increasing altitude; the layer of the atmosphere in which most weather phenomena take place

Sky glow

The phenomenon when the sky at night in a certain area is not dark as it would be naturally, but glows (perhaps in shades of pink, orange, white, yellow, or gray) due to excess light in the local atmosphere

carbon dioxide

The primary greenhouse gas

Mt. Pinatubo

The site of a 1991 volcanic eruption in the Phillipines that spewed so much smoke and ash into the atmosphere that it temporarily depressed global temperatures (minor worldwide cooling effect)

Stratosphere

The thermal layer of the atmosphere above the troposphere in which temperature increased with altitude. Has ozone layer

Global dimming

a gradual reduction in the amount of solar radiation that penetrates Earth's surface due to the increased reflectivity of clouds and pollution that results from fossil fuels

Greenhouse effect

the warming up of the lower atmosphere due to the accumulation of greenhouse gases that trap heat near the surface of the earth