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Unit 2: Climate Chng
Climate Vocab Words and Definitions
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| climate change | a change in global or regional climate patterns |
| climate | the long-term weather conditions of a region |
| greenhouse effect | the trapping of thermal energy in the atmosphere when solar energy that was absorbed by earth was reradiated into the atmosphere |
| greenhouse gases | a gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect by absorbing infrared radiation, examples given: carbon dioxide and chlorofluorocarbons |
| drought | a prolonged period with lower than average precipitation that causes a water shortage |
| el nino southern oscillation effect | an unusual warming of the ocean water off the coast of Peru that takes place every few years. These events affect rainfall in some areas, while causing drought and floods in others. |
| ocean acidification | the ongoing decrease in the pH value of the earth's oceans. caused by the uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere |
| invasive species | an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and negatively alters its new environment. the spread can have beneficial aspects, many adversely affect the habitats and bioregions causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage |
| gulf stream current | a strong warm water ocean current that brings waters from the Gulf of Mexico into the Atlantic Ocean. the warm waters cause NW Europe to have a warmer climate than it should. |
| bleached coral | the process when corals turn white due to various stressors, such as changes in temp, light, or nutrients. this occurs when polyps expel the algae that live insure their tissue, causing the coral to turn white |
| extinction | the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds, usually a species. the moment of this is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this pt |
| glacier | a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. it forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries |
| ice cap | a mass of ice that covers less than 50,000 km2 of land area. larger ones cover more than 50,000 km2 are termed ice sheets. |
| la nina | the periodic cooling of ocean surface temperatures in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific. La Nina events occur every 3 to 5 years or so, but on occasion can occur over successive years. La Nina represents the cool phase of the El Nino cycle |
| global warming | a gradual increase in the overall temp of the earth's atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and other pollutants |
Created by:
jlratkinson
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