Glossary

Process in which the pH value of seawater declines due to increased absorption of atmospheric carbon dioxide. This process is a direct effect of rising carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere, which are primarily caused by human activities like burning fossil fuels.

The science of the ocean.

Ozone-depleting substance.

Sea ice that has survived at least one summer melting.

Deposited snow; the ice crystals’ original form can no longer be recognised. 

The degree to which a given substance can be penetrated by light or electromagnetic waves.

A large, freely navigable water zone that is nearly ice-free. The ice concentration is less than 1/10.

Group of carbon compounds based on carbon-carbon or carbon-hydrogen bonds and which can be found in or are produced by living organisms.

Refers to a process connected to the diffusion of molecules or ions through a semipermeable membrane, i.e., the exchange of mixable liquids through a membrane.

The pressure between two fluids with different concentrations that are separated by a semipermeable membrane.

Overfitting is a problem that arises in statistical modelling, machine learning, and artificial intelligence when a given model is overly adjusted to specific examples in the training data and is consequently no longer capable of making general predictions regarding new, unfamiliar data. Overfitting occurs when a model’s complexity is too great in relation to the available training data, or when the model – due to repetitions of the training that are too long or too numerous – inadvertently learns the training data “by heart.”

A gaseous component of the atmosphere.

A layer spanning from ca. 12 to 40 km above the Earth’s surface.