Glossary
The English version of our glossary is currently under construction and will be regularly updated.
- A(28)
- B(16)
- C(40)
- D(16)
- E(29)
- F(18)
- G(15)
- H(10)
- I(24)
- J
- K(4)
- L(9)
- M(13)
- N(6)
- O(9)
- P(30)
- Q
- R(12)
- S(41)
- T(19)
- U(5)
- V
- W(3)
- X
- Y(1)
- Z(1)
- 0(2)
Ablation
Melting and evaporation on glaciers and in snow fields.
moreAcclimatisation
An organism’s short- or long-term adaptation to changing climatic conditions.
moreACIA
Arctic Climate Impact Assessment.
moreAdaption
Initiatives and measures intended to reduce the vulnerability of natural and human systems to actual or expected impacts of climate change.
moreAdsorption
The term “absorption” generally refers to the absorption of light.
moreAdvection
In oceanography and meteorology, the term “advection” refers to the horizontal transport of properties via currents in the water or air.
moreAerosols
Solid or liquid particles in the air.
moreAlbedo
Albedo is used to measure a given body’s reflectivity. The lighter it is, the higher its albedo.
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AMAP
Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme.
moreAnchor ice
Submerged ice that is attached or anchored to the bottom of a body of water, regardless of how it was formed.
moreAnisotropy
Directional dependence of a substance’s property
moreAnnular Mode
Predominant atmospheric circulation pattern that reflects changes in the mean zonal westerly wind in the middle latitudes.
moreAntarctic Circumpolar Current
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is a ring-shaped, cold ocean current flowing about the Antarctic.
moreAntarctic 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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Antarctic Divergence
Region of divergent ocean currents that encircle Antarctica and produce upwelling.
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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.
moreAntarctic 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.
moreAnthropogenic
Direct and indirect influences on the environment, either caused or produced by human beings.
moreAnthropogenic emissions
Emissions of greenhouse gases, their precursors, and aerosols in connection with human activities.
moreArctic
polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth
moreArctic 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.
moreAssimilation
The conversion of nutrients into bodily substances, chiefly in connection with the energy-consuming chemical reactions in metabolism.
moreAtmosphere
The gaseous envelope surrounding the Earth.
moreAtmospheric deposition
Refers to the deposition of atmospheric substances.
moreAurora australis / Aurora borealis
The Southern and Northern Lights.
moreAutochthonous
When something is still where it originated and was not transported (e.g. by a river).
moreAutotrophy
How green plants and many microorganisms that only require inorganic substances to grow feed themselves.
moreAzimuth
Horizontal direction in a three-dimensional coordinate system
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