Glossary

Floes that are compressed (primarily by wind) into extensive masses of ice.

Stacked blocks of broken ice produced by intense piling.

The science of Earth’s climatic history.

An index that uses temperature and precipitation data to predict droughts.

Small, round ice floes that resemble pancakes.

Parametrisation is the process by means of which simplified descriptions (most often mathematical in nature) and a limited number of parameters or variables are used to portray complex systems or processes in a form suitable for creating mathematical models or simulations.

Particular organic carbon (POC) is a form of organic carbon found in bodies of water in particulate form, both as part of living cells, and as dead material. POC is an important food source for various marine organisms and, as a natural carbon sink, has an effect on the carbon cycle.

The pelagic or open water zone is a term used in marine biology and refers to that part of a water body that is open and not influenced by any structures on its floor. It is essentially the counterpart to the benthic zone, the bottommost zone of a body of water.

A term that essentially means “swimming in the open water”. It refers to organisms that live in the open waters of the ocean and large inland water bodies (and not close to the bottom or near the shore).

A parameter used in the statistical evaluation of e.g. measurements and which provides a distribution value.

Ground (soil or rock, together with ice and organic material) that continuously remains below 0°C (i.e., is frozen) for at least two consecutive years.

From the Latin pondus Hydrogenii (a measurement of an aqueous solution’s acidity or basicity).

A phase transition is a physical process by means of which a given material changes from one state to another, i.e., changes from a solid, liquid or gaseous state to another state.

An organism that can use sunlight as an energy source in order to convert inorganic material into organic material, i.e., to engage in photosynthesis.

Encompasses all techniques and devices used to record, process and store primarily geometric information (e.g. form, size, position) on objects and processes using photographic images. Object points are identified and measured in two or more images.

Process in which green plants use sunlight, carbon dioxide and water to produce biomass and emit oxygen.

The entirety of plant organisms drifting or floating in the water.

Organisms that virtually passively float in the water. Can be divided into phytoplankton and zooplankton.

A layer of delicate crystals below the sea ice, which can be up to several metres thick. It is formed from ice-shelf meltwater in the Antarctic through crystallisation in the open water column.

Any non-rectilinear patch of open water in sea ice.

First and foremost, these buoys transmit their own position.

Parts per billion.

Parts per million.

Atmospheric components that are not themselves greenhouse gases or aerosols, but which affect greenhouse-gas or aerosol concentrations.

Projected outcome, based on e.g. established physical, technological, economic, social and behavioural patterns.

The age before the Industrial Revolution of the late 18^th and early 19^th century, after which the consumption of fossil fuels for mechanisation began to rise.

General term for any extended (when viewed from above) wall-like collection of ice blocks, produced by ice deformation.

A term borrowed from ecology, refers to consumers in the first link of the food chain, which feed on living or recently dead autotrophic organisms (autotrophs, producers).

Organisms that use photosynthesis or chemosynthesis to produce organic substances from inorganic substances.

The amount of biomass produced by autotrophic organisms (primary producers) from inorganic substances in a given ecosystem and in the course of a year.

Scientific findings are often subject to various uncertainties, due e.g. to unanswered questions or to processes that have yet to be sufficiently explained. Consequently, IPCC Reports also include information on the uncertainty of findings and the respective probability of future events.

A possible future development of one or more parameters, often calculated with the aid of a model.

Organisms that lack a nucleus.

Protists are eukaryotic organisms, chiefly single-celled but occasionally multicellular.

Protozoans are single-celled lifeforms and some of the simplest organisms on our planet. They live independently or as parasites.

A climate indicator or substitute for a climatic development.