Key words water and Carbon

Question 1

Define acidification

Answer 1

The gradual reduction of pH of the oceans, due to dissolving CO2 from the atmosphere

Question 2

Define afforestation

Answer 2

Planting trees and vegetation in the aim of increasing forest cover

Question 3

Define anticyclone

Answer 3

A system of high pressure, causing high temperatures and unseasonable high evaporation rates

Question 4

Define aquifer

Answer 4

A permeable/porous rock which stores water

Question 5

Define biofuel

Answer 5

Burning crops and vegetation for electricity and heat

Question 6

Define carbon capture and storage

Answer 6

The capture of CO2 emissions directly from the factory, pumped into disused mines rather than released into the atmosphere

Question 7

Define carbon fluxes

Answer 7

The movement of carbon between stores

Question 8

Define carbon neutral

Answer 8

A processes that has no net addition of CO2 to the environment

Question 9

Define carbon stores

Answer 9

Places where carbon accumulates for a period of time like rocks and plants

Question 10

Define channel flow

Answer 10

Water flowing in a rivulet, stream or river

Question 11

Define choke points

Answer 11

Points in the logistics of energy and fuel that are prone to restriction

Question 12

Define combustion

Answer 12

The process of burning a substance in the presence of oxygen, to release energy.

Question 13

Define conventional precipitation

Answer 13

Solar radiation heats the air above the ground, causing it to rise, cool and condense forming precipitation (often as thunderstorms)

Question 14

Define Cryosphere

Answer 14

The global water volume locked up within a frozen state (snow and ice)

Question 15

Define decomposition

Answer 15

The break down of matter, often by a decomposed which releases CO2 through their own respiration

Question 16

Define depression

Answer 16

A system of low pressure, with fronts of precipitation where low and high pressure air masses meet

Question 17

Define desalination plant

Answer 17

The conversion of seawater to freshwater, suitable for human consumption

Question 18

Define desublimination

Answer 18

The change of state of water from gas to solid without being liquid

Question 19

Define drainage basin

Answer 19

The area of land drained by a river and its tributaries

Question 20

Define drainage density

Answer 20

The total length of all rivers and streams divided by the area of the drainage basin

Question 21

Define drought

Answer 21

An extended period of deficient rainfall relative to the statistical average for the region

Question 22

Define economic water security

Answer 22

When water resources are available but insufficient economic wealth limits access to it

Question 23

Define energy mix

Answer 23

The composition of a country’s energy sources

Question 24

Define energy security

Answer 24

The ownership and full control of a country’s energy source, production and transportation

Question 25

Define energy pathway

Answer 25

The movement of energy from its extraction or source through pipes/cabling

Question 26

Define the enhanced greenhouse effect

Answer 26

The build up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, reducing the amount of solar radiation reflected into space

Question 27

Define evapotranspiration

Answer 27

The combined total moisture transferred from the earth to the atmosphere, though evaporation and transpiration

Question 28

Define fronts precipitation

Answer 28

Where air masses of different temperatures meet at a front, one front will be forced over another, causing precipitation beneath the front

Question 29

Define the global hydrological cycle

Answer 29

The continuous transfer of water between land, atmosphere and oceans. The earth is a closed system

Question 30

Define groundwater flow

Answer 30

Water moving horizontally through permeable/porous rock due to gravity

Question 31

Define hydrological drought

Answer 31

Insufficient soil moisture to meet the needs of vegetation at a particular time

Question 32

Define infiltration

Answer 32

The movement of water vertically though the pores in soil

Question 33

Define integrated drainage basin management

Answer 33

Establishing a frame of coordinated efforts between administrations and stakeholders to achieve balanced management of a basin

Question 34

Define inorganic carbon

Answer 34

Carbon stored in carbonated rocks

Question 35

Define interception

Answer 35

Raindrops are prevented from falling directly to the ground, instead hitting leaves

Question 36

Define meteorological drought

Answer 36

When long term precipitation trends are below average

Question 37

Define a monsoon

Answer 37

The drastic variation between wet and dry seasons for sub-tropical areas, caused by a changed prevailing wind. Can lead to annual flooding

Question 38

Define non-renewable

Answer 38

A source of energy that can only be used once to generate electricity or takes thousands of years to replace e.g fossil fuels

Question 39

Define nuclear fusion

Answer 39

The process of joining atomic nuclei together, to produce energy

Question 40

Define an open system

Answer 40

A system affected by external flows and inputs (e.g. drainage basin, sediment cell)

Question 41

Define organic carbon

Answer 41

Carbon stored in plant material and living organisms

Question 42

Define outgassing

Answer 42

The release of dissolved CO2 (e.g. warming oceans, at plate boundaries)

Question 43

Define percolation

Answer 43

Water moving vertically from soil into permeable rock due

Question 44

Define photosynthesis

Answer 44

The process of converting CO2 and water into glucose and oxygen. All plants and some organisms rely on this to survive

Question 45

Define physical water security

Answer 45

A physical lack of available freshwater which cannot meet demand

Question 46

Define phytoplankton

Answer 46

Small organisms that rely on photosynthesis to survive, intake CO2 from the atmosphere

Question 47

Define primary energy

Answer 47

The initial source of energy as it’s naturally found, this could be natural ores, water, crops or radioactive material

Question 48

Define relief precipitation

Answer 48

precipitation caused when air masses are forced to rise over High land, determined by the relief/morphology of the land

Question 49

Define renewable

Answer 49

Primary energy that can be reused to provide electricity or has a short lifetime therefore any used can be replaced quickly e.g biomass, solar

Question 50

Define respiration

Answer 50

process of converting glucose and oxygen to CO2 and energy.

Question 51

Define river regime

Answer 51

The pattern of river discharge over a year

Question 52

Define runoff

Answer 52

Water flowing over the surface of the ground e.g after snowmelt

Question 53

Define salinisation

Answer 53

Where salt water contaminated freshwater stores or soils. Creates saline conditions and reduced human consumption

Question 54

Define saltwater encroachment

Answer 54

The movement of saltwater into freshwater aquifers or soils Caused by sea-level rise, storm surges or over-extraction

Question 55

Define sequestration

Answer 55

The transfer of carbon from the atmosphere to stores elsewhere -living biosphere, inorganic rocks

Question 56

Define smart irrigation

Answer 56

Providing crops with a water supply less than optimal to make crops resistant to water shortages

Question 57

What is a storm hydrograph ?

Answer 57

Variation of river discharge over a short period of time

Question 58

Define sublimation

Answer 58

Change of state of water from solid to gas without being a liquid

Question 59

Define thermohaline circulation

Answer 59

The movement of volumes of seawater from cold deep water to warm surface water

Question 60

Define through flow

Answer 60

Water moving horizontally through the soil due to gravity

Question 61

Define transpiration

Answer 61

The process though which water evaporates through the stomata in plants leaves

Question 62

Define urbanisation

Answer 62

The growth of populations in towns and cities

Question 63

Define water budget/balance

Answer 63

The annual balance between inputs and outputs within a system

Question 64

Define water recycling

Answer 64

The treatment and purification of waste water to increase supply

Question 65

Define watershed

Answer 65

The boundary between neighbouring drainage basins