Keywords Flashcards
(19 cards)
Vulnerability
A high risk combined with an inability of people to cope.
Hazard
Perceived natural event which has potential to threaten life and property.
Disaster
Hazard becoming reality - causes death, damage etc…
Risk
The probability of a hazard event occurring and creating loss of loves and livelihoods.
Albedo
How much solar radiation a surface reflects
Feedback mechanism
Where the output of a system acts to amplify or reduce further output.
Asthenosphere
A semi molten zone of rock underlying the earths crust.
Inter tropical convergence zone
A zone of low atmospheric pressure near the equator. This migrates seasonally.
Climate
Average conditions of precipitation, temperature or pressure and wind measured over 30 years.
Milankovitch cycles
Three interacting astronomical cycles in the earths orbit around the sun, believed to account for long term climate change.
Thermohaline circulation
A global system of surface and deep water ocean currents driven by differences in temperature and salinity between areas of the ocean.
Thermal expansion
Increased volume of the oceans as a result of higher water temperatures.
Carbon sinks
Reservoirs of carbon dioxide.
Feedback effects
Amplify a change and make it larger or diminish it and make it smaller.
Eustatic change
Change in sea levels due to the amount of water.
Isostatic change
Movement of land in response to loss or gain of mass.
Mitigation
Reducing the output of greenhouse gases and increasing the size of greenhouse gas sinks.
Carbon credits
A way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in industry by putting a cap on companies emissions.
International panel on climate change
A UN organisation which looks at evidence and publishes reports on climate change.
