Glossary
This glossary is compiled by the Global Assessments Unit of UNEP. Sources for all terms and definitions can be found here.
Abundance
The number of individuals or related measure of quantity (such as biomass) in a population, community or spatial unit.
Acidification
Change in natural chemical balance caused by an increase in the concentration of acidic elements.
Adaptation Adjustment in natural or human systems to a new or changing environment, including anticipatory and reactive adaptation, private and public adaptation, and autonomous and planned adaptation.; In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects in order to moderate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate.
Adaptive capacity The ability of a system to adjust to climate change (including climate variability and extremes) to moderate potential damages, to take advantage of opportunities, or to cope with the consequences.
Aerosol A collection of airborne solid or liquid particles, with a typical size between 0.01 and 10 micrometres (μm), that resides in the atmosphere for at least several hours. Aerosols may be of either natural or anthropogenic origin.
Alien species
Species accidentally or deliberately introduced outside its normal distribution.
Anthropocene A term used by scientists to name a new geologic epoch (following the most recent Holocene) characterized by significant changes in the Earth’s atmosphere, biosphere and hydrosphere due primarily to human activities.
Anthropogenic As a result of human activity.
Aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing rock. Water-bearing rocks are permeable, meaning they have openings that liquids and gases can pass through. Sedimentary rock such as sandstone, as well as sand and gravel, are examples of water-bearing rock. The top of the water level in an aquifer is called the water table.
Billion 109
132 (1,000,000,000). GEO for Cities
Bottom-up From the lowest level of a hierarchy or process to the top.
Breakwater A hard engineering structure built in the sea which, by breaking waves, protects a harbour, anchorage, beach or shore area.
Burden of disease The burden of disease can be thought of as the measurement of the gap between current health status and an ideal health situation where the entire population lives to an advanced age, free of disease and disability.
Capital Resource that can be mobilized in the pursuit of an individual’s goals. Thus, natural capital (natural resources such as land and water), physical capital (technology and artefacts), social capital (social relationships, networks and ties), financial capital (money in a bank, loans and credit), human capital (education and skills).
Biocultural heritage Living organisms or habitats whose present features are due to cultural action in time and place.
Biodiversity The variety of life on Earth, including diversity at the genetic level, among species and among ecosystems and habitats. It includes diversity in abundance, distribution and behavior, as well as interaction with socio-ecological systems. Biodiversity also incorporates human cultural diversity, which can both be affected by the same drivers as biodiversity, and itself has impacts on the diversity of genes, other species and ecosystems.; The variability among living organisms from all sources, including terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems, as well as the ecological complexes of which they are part. Biodiversity includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.
Biogas
Gas, rich in methane, which is produced by the fermentation of animal dung, human sewage or crop residues in an airtight container.
Biomass Organic material, above and below ground and in water, both living and dead, such as trees, crops, grasses, tree litter and roots.
Biosphere The part of the Earth and its atmosphere in which living organisms exist or that is capable of supporting life.
Biotic Live and living organism. (Terminology for integrated resource planning and management, 1999 - X2079E).
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