Complete ABCD of Climate Change, Time to learn A for adaptation B for Biodiversity

Climate change affects everyone on this planet. If all the talk about climate change is leaving you a little lost, hopefully, our A-Z can help get you back on the right track.

Just press Ctrl + F and search the word for what you're looking for. If you can't find what you're looking for, leave a comment at the bottom of the story and we'll add it.

ABCD of Climate Change

Here are some of the most important words and phrases:

A: Adaptation/Awareness

This measure encompasses actions that promote awareness of altered conditions under climate change and adaptation.

B: Biodiversity

A wide range of living organisms, such as animals and plants, in an environment.

C: Climate/Carbon

Climate, in a narrow sense, is usually defined as "average weather" or, more rigorously, as the statistical description in terms of the mean and variability of relevant quantities over a period of time ranging from months to thousands of years.

D: Deforestation

Those practices or processes that result in the conversion of forest land to non-forest uses.

E: Environmental Impact

Environmental impact is the result of a human-induced change in the natural or built environment.

F: Forest

Terrestrial forest ecosystem (biome) with sufficient average annual rainfall (at least 76 centimetres or 30 inches) to support the growth of various species of trees and smaller forms of vegetation.

G: Global warming

Global warming is the apparent recent trend of rising global surface and tropospheric temperatures believed to be caused by pollutants and their heat “trapping”. This phenomenon is popularly known as “the greenhouse effect”.

H: Hydrocarbon

Substances that contain only hydrogen and carbon. Fossil fuels are made up of hydrocarbons.

I: IPCC

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was established jointly by the United Nations Environment Program and the World Meteorological Organization in 1988.

J: Joint Implementation

Joint Implementation (JI) is one of the three flexibility mechanisms established in the Kyoto Protocol to help countries with binding greenhouse gas emissions.

K: Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol was adopted on December 11, 1997. Due to a complex ratification process, it entered into force on February 16, 2005. Currently, there are 192 Parties to the Kyoto Protocol.

L: land

Land-based waste disposal site where waste is generally thinly spread, compacted, and covered with a fresh layer of soil each day

M: Mitigation

A human intervention to reduce the human impact on the climate system; includes strategies to reduce greenhouse gas sources and emissions and enhance greenhouse gas sinks.

N: Natural Gas

Underground reservoirs of gases consisting of 50 to 90 per cent methane (CH4) and small amounts of heavier gaseous hydrocarbon compounds such as propane (C3H8) and butane (C4H10).

O: Ozone

A molecule consisting of three oxygen atoms bonded together. Its chemical nomenclature is O3. Most of the oxygen in the atmosphere, O2, consists of only two oxygen atoms.

P: Paris Agreement

The Paris Agreement, often referred to as the Paris Agreement or the Paris Climate Agreement, is an international treaty on climate change, adopted in 2015.

Q: Question

Question everything, don't blindly accept the news.

R: Reforestation

Planting of forests on land that previously contained forests but has been converted to some other use

S: Sustainable Development

Development that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present but also for generations to come.

T: Temperature/Troposphere

Average temperatures at the Earth's surface are increasing and are expected to continue rising

U: UNFCCC/unity

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an international environmental treaty that addresses climate change.

V: Vulnerability/voices

The degree to which a system is susceptible or unable to cope with the adverse effects of climate change, including climate variability and extremes.

W: Wildfire/Weather

A wildfire is an uncontrolled fire that burns in wild vegetation, often in rural areas. Wildfires can burn in forests, grasslands

X: X-ray

A photographic or digital image of the internal composition of an object,

Y: Youth/yes

A group of youth. A very vocal constituency within the UNFCCC negotiations that generally includes people between the ages of 16 and 29.

Z: Zeronauts/Zeal

A concept devised by sustainability expert John Elkington through which innovators and entrepreneurs lead the world towards zero population growth, emissions, poverty and pollution, among others.

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