Unit 1 - World At Risk Definitions

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Unit 1 - World At Risk Definitions
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Hazard A natural event that has the potential to threaten both life and property
Event A natural occurrence that does not affect people
Disaster Most powerful event with significant damage to property and life i.e. high deaths
Hydro-meteorological Hazard A hazard resulting from atmospheric or hydrological processes e.g. Cyclone
Geophysical Hazard A hazard resulting from geological (rock) or geomorphological (land) processes e..g. Volcanic Eruption
Disaster Risk Equation Frequency or magnitude of a hazard x Level of vulnerability / Capacity to cope
Risk The probability of a hazard event occurring and creating loss of lives and livelihoods
Vulnerability How at risk or exposed you are to a bad situation i.e. living on a flood plain
Capacity to Cope The ability or inability to be able to deal with a bad situation
Magnitude The size of the event e.g. An Earthquake on the Richter Scale
Frequency How often an event of a certain magnitude occurs and it's recurrence interval
El Niño A continually oscillating climatic pattern. It is a natural event that occurs irregularly every 5-7 years
La Niña An extreme normal year that is the reverse of El Niño
ENSO El Niño Southern Oscillation
Population The amount of people living in a set area/region
Urbanisation The social process whereby cities grow and societies become more urban
Land degradation/deforestation Where the value of the biophysical environment is affected by human activities e.g. Removal of trees
Volcano A mountain or hill, typically conical, that has a crater through which lava, rock fragments, hot vapour, and gas are erupted from the earth's crust.
Active Volcano A Volcano that has had at least one eruption in the last 10,000 years
Dormant Volcano A dormant volcano is an active volcano that is not erupting, but supposed to erupt again in the future
Extinct Volcano A volcano that has not had an eruption for at least 10,000 years and is not expected to erupt again in the future.
Earthquake A sudden violent shaking of the ground, as a result of movements within the earth's crust
Epicentre The point on the earth's surface vertically above the focus of an earthquake.
Focus The point of origin of an earthquake
Plate Tectonics A theory explaining the structure of the earth's lithosphere and the motion of the different plates
Constructive Boundary Where the plates move apart due to convection currents inside the earth. Volcanoes are formed as magma wells up to fill the gap, and eventually erupts e.g. Mid Atlantic Ridge
Destructive Margin Where the plates are moving towards each other, usually involving a continental plate and an oceanic plate
Subduction Zone The point at which subduction happens: where the oceanic plate is denser than the continental plate and so as they move together, it becomes sunducted under the continental plate
Conservative margin Where the plates slide past each other in opposite directions, building up pressure which is eventually released as shock waves, producing an Earthquake e.g. San Andreas Fault
Oceanic Plate A tectonic plate which lies underneath the ocean and consists mainly of Basalt rock
Continental Plate A plate which lies underneath surface land made up of granite rock
Continental Drift The theory of the gradual movement of the continents across the earth's surface through geological time.
Tsunami A long, high sea wave triggered by an earthquake out at sea
Landslide A collapse of a mass of earth or rock from a mountain or cliff
Avalanche Both a hydrometeorological and geophysical hazard where a mass of snow, ice, and rocks descend rapidly down a mountainside
Flood A hydro-meteorological hazard where there is an overflow of a large amount of water beyond its normal limits, over what is normally dry land, e.g. extensive rainfall, tsunami, hurricane
Monsoon A seasonal prevailing wind in the region of Southern Asia and the Indian Ocean, bringing rain from the south-west in the summer (May-Sep) and from the north-east in the winter (Oct-April)
Hurricane/Cyclone A large tropical storm with wind strengths exceeding 74 mph according to the Beaufort Scale
Drought A prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall, leading to a shortage of water
Inter-tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) A narrow zone near the equator where northern and southern air masses converge, typically producing low atmospheric pressure
Disaster Hotspot An area/region which is exposed to two or more hazards, they are likely to be where plate boundaries intersect
Context Hazard Hazards that have widespread effects with the potential to affect the entire planet e.g. Climate Change
Chronic Hazard A hazard that is ongoing and may increase the likelihood of other hazard events occurring i.e. Global Warming, El Niño/La Niña
Climate Change Variations in the earth's average atmospheric temperature (both up and down)
Greenhouse Effect The warming of the Earth's atmosphere due to the trapping of heat that would otherwise be radiated back into space, enabling the survival of life on Earth
Enhanced Greenhouse effect When the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increase due to human activity i.e. Burning fossil fuels, using CFCs
Global Warming A recently measured rise in the average surface temperature of the planet
Greenhouse gas A gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect by absorbing infra-red radiation i.e. Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Nitrous Oxide, Water Vapour
Fossil Fuel Energy sources that are rich in carbon and which release carbon dioxide when burnt e.g. Coal
Little Ice Age A cool period in Europe (possibly Globally) where the climate peaked -0.5 below average temp and in which many Alpine glaciers advanced, from around 1400-1850
Medieval Warm Period A period of unusually warm North Atlantic Climate, where temperatures peaked at +0.3 above average temperature, from around 800-1400
Thermal Expansion The increased volume of the oceans as a result of their higher water temperature, leading to sea-level rise (it accounted for about 60% of sea-level rise in the late 20th century)
Milankovitch cycles A diagram which suggests the theory of Astronomical forcing, referring to long term variations in the orbit of the Earth, which result in changes in climate over 100,000 years
Interglacial Period A period of warmer global average temperatures, between consecutive glacial periods, lasting thousands of years within an ice age.
Glacial Period A period of cooler temperatures and glacier advances, over thousands of years within an ice age, where polar and mountain ice sheets were unusually extensive across the earth's surface
Sunspot Dark spots that appear on the surface of the sun caused by intense magnetic storms, they determine the amount of solar radiation emitted to the earth
Albedo The amount of solar radiation reflected by a surface, light surfaces have a high albedo (reflect the most) i.e. ice, dark surfaces have a low albedo (absorb the light) i.e. sea
Climate Forcing Any mechanism that alters the global energy balance and forces the climate to change in response
Feedback Mechanism Where the output of a system acts to amplify (positive) or reduce (negative) further output i.e. melting of Arctic permafrost leads to the release of trapped methane, causing further Global Warming
Global Dimming A decrease in the amount of sunlight reaching the surface of the earth, believed to be caused by pollution in the atmosphere from human activities
Anthropogenic cause The proportion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that is produced directly by human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels
Ice Core An ice core is a core sample that is typically removed from an ice sheet, to test long term climate change, i.e. from the polar ice caps of Antarctica, Greenland
Tree Rings Visible when a tree is cross-sectioned and used to investigate medium term Climate Change - many trees are sensitive to changes in temperature, the thickness of the annual growth ring records climatic conditions
Proxy Records Data that helps us reconstruct the climate before the start of instrumental records i.e. paintings, diaries, poems
Eustatic Change Change in sea level due to the change in the amount of water in the oceans
Isostatic Change Movement of land in response to loss or gain of mass e.g. melting ice sheets leads to uplift
Tipping Point The point at which a system switches from one state to another, reached when climate change occurs irreversibly and at an increasing rate - certain level of GH emissions (450ppm C02), temp rise of 2°C
Thermohaline Circulation System/Ocean Conveyor Belt A global system of surface and deep-water ocean currents, driven by differences in temperature and salinity, between areas of the oceans
Carbon Sinks a natural or artificial reservoir that accumulates and stores carbon. Public awareness of the significance of CO2 sinks has grown since passage of the Kyoto Protocol, which promotes their use as a form of carbon offset
Environmental Refugees People who have been forced to leave their habitat temporarily or permanently, because of a marked environmental disruption (natural or triggered by people) that jeopardizes their existence and/or the quality of their life
Ecosystem A biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment
Habitat The natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism
Permafrost Permanently frozen ground i.e. Arctic permafrost
Tundra A vast, flat, treeless Arctic region of Europe, Asia, and North America in which the subsoil is permanently frozen.
Tree line The line or altitude on a mountain above which no trees grow
Boreal Forest A subarctic area of northern Eurasia and North America located just south of the tundra and covered largely with coniferous forests
Indigenous People Native groups especially protected in international or national legislation as having a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory, and their cultural or historical distinctiveness from other populations
Carbon Cycle The series of processes by which carbon compounds are inter-converted in the environment i.e. Burning of Fossil Fuels
Desertification The process by which fertile land becomes desert, typically as a result of drought, deforestation, or inappropriate agriculture
Vector-borne Disease Infectious diseases transmitted into the human body by insects i.e. Ticks, Mosquitos
Water-borne Disease Diseases transmitted into the human body from drinking contaminated water which contains pathogenic microorganisms
Food Security The state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food
Cash Crop A crop produced for its commercial value rather than for use by the grower
Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) Apart of the UN and discusses scientific issues related to human induced climate change and its impacts, and the options of Mitigation/Adaptation
Adaptation A strategy to cope with climate change by changing our lifestyles to cope with a new environment rather than trying to stop it e.g. managed retreat policy, drought-resistant crops
Mitigation A strategy to cope with climate change that means reducing the output of greenhouse gases and increasing the size of greenhouse gas sinks e.g. Carbon 'capturing', using renewable energy sources - wind power
Carbon Footprint The amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere as a result of the activities of a particular individual, organization, or community
International treaty - Kyoto Protocol An agreement under national law to set targets to reduce each countries output of greenhouse gas emissions
Sustainable Development Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
Renewable Energy Energy from a source that is not depleted when used and instead replaced naturally, e.g. wind or solar power
Conservatism A general preference for the existing order of society, and an opposition to efforts to bring about sharp change
Biofuels Fuels that are extracted from plants and do not pollute as much to the environment e.g. Ethanol
Adaptive Capacity The extent to which a system can cope with climate change, in human systems it depends on available human, physical and financial resources
Climate Vulnerability The degree to which a natural or human system is unable 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
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