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World at Risk: KEY WORDS
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- 1Context hazarda global threat due to environmental factors such as climate change
- 2Geophysical hazardhazard formed by tectonic/geological (e.g. earthquakes/volcanoes/tsunamis) and geomorphological processes
- 3HazardA perceived natural event which has the potential to threaten both life and property
- 4Hydro-meteorological hazardA hazard formed by hydrological (water/floods) and atmospheric (storms/droughts) processes
- 5VulnerabilityA high risk combined with a low capacity for an individual/community to cope
- 6DisasterA hazard becoming reality in an event that causes death, damage to property and the environment
- 7Riskthe probability of a hazard event occurring and creating loss of lives and livelihoods
- 8Albedohow much solar radiation a surface reflects
- 9Climate changeAny long-term trend of shift in climate (average weather over 30 years) detected by a sustained shift in the average value of a climatic element (eg. rainfall, drought and storminess)
- 10Enhanced greenhouse effectwhen levels of GHG in the atmosphere increase due to human activity
- 11Fossil fuelsenergy sources that are rich in carbon and release CO2 when burnt (coal, oil, gas)
- 12Global warminga recently measured rise in the average surface temperature of the planet
- 13Greenhouse effectthe warming of the Earth’s atmosphere due to the trapping of heat that would otherwise be radiated back into space - it enables the survival of life on Earth
- 14Tipping pointThe point at which a system switches from one state to another
- 15Feedback mechanismwhere the output of a system amplifies (positive) or reduces (negative) further output (eg. the melting of Arctic permafrost releases trapped methane, which leads to further global warming - positive feedback)
- 16Frequencyhow often an event of a certain size (magnitude) occurs. For example, a flood of 1m height may occur, on average, every year on a particular river, while a 2m flood may only occur about every 10 years. The frequency is called the recurrence interval.
- 17Magnitudethe size of the event (e.g. force of a gale on the Beaufort scale or size of an earthquake on the Richter Scale)
- 18Asthenospherea semi-molten zone of rock underlying the Earth's crust
- 19Conservative boundarya boundary between tectonic plates where the movement of the plates is parallel to the plate margin and the plates slide past each other
- 20Constructive boundarya boundary between plates where the plates are diverging (moving apart)
- 21Destructive boundarya boundary between plates where the plates are converging (moving together)
- 22Lithospherethe crust of the earth, around 80-90 km thick
- 23Magmamolten material that rises towards the earth’s surface when hotspots with the asthenosphere generate convection currents
- 24Platesrigid, less dense “slabs” of rock floating on the asthenosphere
- 25Hotspota localised area of the earth’s crust with an unusually high temperature
- 26Plumean upwelling of abnormally hot rock within the earth’s mantle
- 27Inter-tropical convergence zonea zone of low atmospheric pressure near the equator, which migrates seasonally
- 28Climatethe average conditions of precipitation (rainfall), temperature, pressure and wind over a 30 year period
- 29Thermohaline circulationa global system of surface and deep ocean currents, driven by differences in temperature (thermo) and salinity (haline) between areas of the ocean. Also called the ocean conveyor.
- 30Little Ice Agea cool period in Europe when many Alpine glaciers advanced (1400-1850)
- 31Medieval Warm Periodan unusually warm period in the North Atlantic climate (800-1400)
- 32Thermal expansionan increased volume of the oceans as it heats up leading to sea level rise. Accounted for 60% sea level rise in the 20th century (1900s).
- 33Climate forcingany mechanism that alters the global energy balance and forces the climate to change in response
- 34Habitatthe environment of plants and animals, in which they live, feed and reproduce
- 35Permafrostpermanently frozen ground
- 36Indigenousnative/endemic
- 37Eustatic changechange in sea level due to change in the amount of water in the oceans
- 38Isostatic changemovement of land in response to loss or gain of mass (e.g. melting ice sheets leads to uplift)
- 39Adaptive capacitythe extent to which a system can cope with climate change. In human systems it depends on available human, physical, and financial resources.
- 40Climate vulnerabilitythe degree to which a natural or human system lacks the ability to cope with climate change. Vulnerability is a result of the magnitude of the change, its speed of onset, the sensitivity of the system and its adaptive capacity.
- 41BiofuelsFuels such as ethanol, extracted from plants
- 42Sustainable development’Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ (Brundtland Report, 1987)
Información
- Descripción
- A series of key words directly taken from the 'World at Risk' section of the Edexcel AS Geography textbook.
- Creado por
- Joanna Griffith
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