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Glossary

The English version of our glossary is currently under construction and will be regularly updated.

Ablation

Melting and evaporation on glaciers and in snow fields.

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Acclimatisation

An organism’s short- or long-term adaptation to changing climatic conditions.

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ACIA

Arctic Climate Impact Assessment.

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Adaption

Initiatives and measures intended to reduce the vulnerability of natural and human systems to actual or expected impacts of climate change.

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Adsorption

The term “absorption” generally refers to the absorption of light.

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Advection

In oceanography and meteorology, the term “advection” refers to the horizontal transport of properties via currents in the water or air.

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Aerosols

Solid or liquid particles in the air.

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Albedo

Albedo is used to measure a given body’s reflectivity. The lighter it is, the higher its albedo.

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Sample albedos for various surfaces.

Allochthonous

A term used in geology and ecology to describe materials, geological objects or organisms from outside a given system or region.

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AMAP

Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme.

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Anchor ice

Submerged ice that is attached or anchored to the bottom of a body of water, regardless of how it was formed.

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Anions

Negatively charged ions produced when an atom or molecule takes on additional electrons , so that it has more electrons than protons and therefore a negative overall charge. Examples include chloride (Cl-), sulphate (SO42-), bicarbonate (HCO3-) and bromide (Br-).

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Anisotropy

Directional dependence of a substance’s property

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Annular Mode

Predominant atmospheric circulation pattern that reflects changes in the mean zonal westerly wind in the middle latitudes.

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Antarctic Circumpolar Current

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is a ring-shaped, cold ocean current flowing about the Antarctic.

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Antarctic Convergence

The Antarctic Convergence is a roughly 40-km-wide water zone in the Southern Ocean in which cold, northward-flowing currents sink below warmer, southward-flowing surface water.

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Infographic: How the Southern Ocean Influences Overturning Circulation in Adjacent Oceans

Antarctic Divergence

Region of divergent ocean currents that encircle Antarctica and produce upwelling.

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Infographic: How the Southern Ocean Influences Overturning Circulation in Adjacent Oceans

Antarctic Oscillation (AAO)

The wind system in the Southern Ocean describing the north-south shifting of the westerly winds, which drives the wind field from west to east in a circular motion and dominates large-scale atmospheric circulation in the middle and high latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere.

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Antarctic Treaty System

Represents the basis for preserving the Antarctic. The System reflects the shared desire to exclusively use the Antarctic for peaceful purposes for all time.

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Anthropogenic

Direct and indirect influences on the environment, either caused or produced by human beings.

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Anthropogenic emissions

Emissions of greenhouse gases, their precursors, and aerosols in connection with human activities.

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Archaeans

Archaeans are tiny, single-celled bacteria, and can be round, rod- or ribbon-shaped. Capable of surviving under harsh conditions, they are extremely frugal. Archaeans can be found in a variety of settings and there are numerous subspecies. They are one of the three major groups of organisms (the others being eukaryotes and bacteria) formed in the course of evolution.

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Arctic

polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth

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Arctic Oscillation (AO)

“Arctic Oscillation (AO)” refers to the changes in atmospheric pressure differences near the surface between the Arctic and middle latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere.

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Assimilation

The conversion of nutrients into bodily substances, chiefly in connection with the energy-consuming chemical reactions in metabolism.

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Atmosphere

The gaseous envelope surrounding the Earth.

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Atmospheric deposition

Refers to the deposition of atmospheric substances.

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Aurora australis / Aurora borealis

The Southern and Northern Lights.

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Autochthonous

When something is still where it originated and was not transported (e.g. by a river).

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Autotrophy

How green plants and many microorganisms that only require inorganic substances to grow feed themselves.

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Azimuth

Horizontal direction in a three-dimensional coordinate system

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