The World At Risk

Front 1

Adaptation to Global Warming

Back 1

policies which are designed to reduce the existing impacts of global warming, such as protection against flooding and coastal erosion

Front 2

Boreal Forest (Coniferous Forest)

Back 2

evergreen forests which occur naturally between 55 degrees & 66 degrees North where winters are long & very cold

Front 3

Carbon Credits

Back 3

a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in industry by putting a value and limit on a company's emissions and allowing the company to sell its emissions shortfall or to buy carbon credits if it exceeds its limit

Front 4

Carbon Offsetting

Back 4

the act of mitigating the greenhouse gas emissions

Front 5

Carbon Sinks

Back 5

resoviors of carbon dioxide, main natural sinks are oceans and plants that use photosynthesis to remove carbon from the atmosphere

Front 6

Deep Sea Core Samples

Back 6

cylindrical section of the Earth's crust removed from the Ocean floor, the layers in the core sample tell us about the geological history of the area

Front 7

Destructive Plate Boundary

Back 7

where two tectonic plates meet and where the denser plate is being converted to magma

Front 8

Disaster

Back 8

when a natural hazard has serious effects such as a large loss of life or property

Front 9

Exponential

Back 9

a rate of increase which becomes faster and faster

Front 10

Geomorphological

Back 10

to do with the nature and history of landforms and the processes which create them

Front 11

Greenhouse Effect

Back 11

the warming of the atmosphere as some of its gases absorb the heat given out by the Earth

Front 12

Lahars

Back 12

a flow of volcanic debris, either dry or mixed with water as a mud flow

Front 13

Magma Chamber

Back 13

a large underground pool of molten rock lying under the surface of the Earth's crust

Front 14

Mega-Delta

Back 14

where the mouths of several large rivers emerge close together

Front 15

Milankovitch Cycles

Back 15

three interacting astronomical cycles in the Earth's orbit around the Sun, believed to affect long-term climatic change

Front 16

Multiple Hazards

Back 16

where a region suffers from a number of different natural or man-made hazards such as unusual tropical storms, tsunamis and rising sea levels, which make life difficult for people living there

Front 17

North Atlantic Drift

Back 17

a warm ocean current, driven by prevailing south-westerly winds from Florida to north-west Europe, bringing warmer conditions than would otherwise be expected at those latitudes

Front 18

Permafrost

Back 18

areas of rock and soil where temperatures have been below freezing point for at least two years (does not have to contain ice)

Front 19

Positive Ice Albedo Effect

Back 19

when melting snow exposes more dark ground of lower albedo which in turn causes more snow to melt

Front 20

Pyroclastic Flows

Back 20

a dense cloud of lava fragments thrown out by an erupting volcano as result of bursting gas bubbles within the magma

Front 21

Radiation

Back 21

energy travelling in the form of electromagnetic waves

Front 22

Saline

Back 22

salty

Front 23

Scenario

Back 23

a description of how things might happen in the future

Front 24

Subduction

Back 24

the transformation into magma as a dense tectonic plate dives under a less dense plate at a destructive plate boundary

Front 25

Tectonic

Back 25

to do with the processes acting to shape the Earth's crust

Front 26

Tree Line

Back 26

the line beyond which trees will not grow

Front 27

Tundra

Back 27

the barren plains of northern Canada, Alaska and Siberia where both temperature and rainfall are low

Front 28

Vent

Back 28

the opening in the crust through which volcanic material flows

Front 29

Volcanic Emissions

Back 29

the materials given out when a volcano erupts, this includes gas (mainly sulfur dioxide), lava and ash

Front 30

Vulnerable Population

Back 30

the population in which are easily hurt and weak

Front 31

Environmental Refugees

Back 31

people forced to migrate as a result if changes to the environment

Front 32

Greenhouse Gases

Back 32

gases which are said to retain heat within the Earth's atmosphere and contribute to global warming - e.g. carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane

Front 33

Natural Hazard

Back 33

natural event or process which affects people - e.g. causing loss of life or injury, economic damage, disruption to people's lives or environmental degradation

Front 34

Hazard Vulnerability

Back 34

capacity of a person or group to anticipate, cope with, resist and recover from the impact of a natural hazard

Front 35

Disaster Risk Formula

Back 35

Disaster risk (D) = Hazard (H) x Vulnerability (V) (over) Capacity (C)

Front 36

Enhanced Greenhouse Effect

Back 36

increase in the natural greenhouse effect, said to be caused by human activities which increase the quantity of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere

Front 37

Thermohaline Circulation

Back 37

the flow of warm and cold water that circulates around the world's oceans

Front 38

Global Conveyer Belt

Back 38

the flow of warm and cold water that circulates around the world's oceans

Front 39

Albedo

Back 39

the amount of solar radiation reflected by the Earth's surfaces, Ice and snow (light coloured surfaces) reflect most, and dark rock surfaces reflect least

Front 40

IPCC

Back 40

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Front 41

Debt Crisis

Back 41

where many African countries have become so heavily indebted that repayments sometimes exceed their entire GNP

Front 42

Cash Crops

Back 42

crops sold for income, rather than one's own food supply

Front 43

Desertification

Back 43

the way in which climate change and over-grazing turn previously fertile land into desert

Front 44

Food Security

Back 44

the extent to which a country can rely upon food supplies - e.g. upon the weather, or, if unable to grow all its food, the extent to which it can pay for imports to feed itself

Front 45

Mitigation of Global Warming

Back 45

refers to policies which are meant to delay, reduce or prevent climate changes caused by global warming - such as cutting CO2 emissions (congestion charging, increasing renewable energy) and increasing carbon sinks (e.g. afforestation)

Front 46

Carbon Sequestration

Back 46

where natural processes, such as plant respiration, are used to offset carbon emissions. trees absorb CO2 and give out oxygen, thus removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere

Front 47

Tipping Point

Back 47

a point beyond which the Earth cannot recover from the effects of carbon emissions; even with drastic action

Front 48

Delta

Back 48

area of sediment deposited where a river enters the sea or a lake