Climate change glossary
Use this glossary to improve your understanding of commonly used terms in the climate change debate.
Adaptation
Adaptation is the process, or outcome of a process, that leads to a reduction in harm or risk of harm, or realisation of benefits associated with climate variability and climate change. Adaptation policies can lead to greater resilience of communities and ecosystems to climate change.
Air quality
The term used to describe how polluted the air we breathe is. When air quality is poor, pollutants in the air may be hazardous to people, particularly those with lung or heart conditions.
Biodiversity
The number and types of plants and animals that exist in a particular area or in the world generally.
Carbon emissions
Carbon dioxide emission refers to the release of a significant amount of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere as a result of human activities such as industry, deforestation, and other anthropogenic sources.
Carbon neutral
This is similar to net zero, but it refers counterbalancing greenhouse gas emissions through ‘carbon offsetting’ which involves investing in carbon sinks such as trees and carbon capture technology that help remove emissions from the atmosphere to create carbon neutrality.
Climate change
Changes in the world's weather, in particular the fact that it is believed to be getting warmer because of human activity increasing the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Climate emergency
Serious and urgent problems that are being caused or likely to be caused by changes in the world's weather, in particular the world getting warmer because of human activity increasing the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Circular economy
The circular economy is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. In this way, the life cycle of products is extended.
Decarbonise
Reduce or eliminate carbon dioxide emissions from a process such as manufacturing or the production of energy, or in an environment.
Energy Efficiency
How much energy it takes to get the result we want, e.g. heating our home. By doing things in a way that uses less energy, we can improve energy efficiency.
Greenhouse gas emissions
Any of various gaseous compounds (such as carbon dioxide or methane) that absorb infrared radiation, trap heat in the atmosphere, and contribute to the greenhouse effect.
Green skills
The knowledge, abilities, values and attitudes needed to live in, develop and support a society which reduces the impact of human activity on the environment.
Low carbon
Activities that only cause a small amount of carbon to be released into the atmosphere.
Net zero
When the total greenhouse gas emissions from human activity are equal to the amount of greenhouse gas emissions removed from the atmosphere, with the goal of reducing global warming.
The UK is committed to reaching net zero by 2050 and we are committed to reaching net zero by 2043.
Particulate matter
Everything in the air that is not a gas and as such it is made up from a huge variety of chemical compounds and materials, some of which are toxic.
PM10 and PM2.5
The UK currently focuses on estimating the fractions of PM emissions where particles are less than 10 micrometres in diameter (PM10) and less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter (PM2.5). PM2.5 is more harmful because of its ability to better penetrate the respiratory system due to its smaller size.
Resilience
The ability of a system to recover from the effect of an extreme load that may have caused harm. Adaptation policies can lead to greater resilience of communities and ecosystems to climate change.
Retrofit
Retrofit refers to any improvement work on an existing building to improve its energy efficiency, making them easier to heat, able to retain that heat for longer, and replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy.