ANNEX

II Glossary

Editorial Board Co-Chairs:

John Agard (Trinidad and Tobago), E. Lisa F. Schipper (Sweden)

Editorial Board:
Joern Birkmann (Germany), Maximiliano Campos (Costa Rica), Carolina Dubeux (Brazil),
Yukihiro Nojiri (Japan), Lennart Olsson (Sweden), Balgis Osman-Elasha (Sudan), Mark Pelling
(UK), Michael J. Prather (USA), Marta G. Rivera-Ferre (Spain), Oliver C. Ruppel (Namibia),
Asbury Sallenger (USA), Kirk R. Smith (USA), Asuncion L. St. Clair (Norway)

TSU Facilitation:
Katharine J. Mach (USA), Michael D. Mastrandrea (USA), T. Eren Bilir (USA)

1757
 Annex II Glossary

Abrupt climate change Adaptation deficit

A large-scale change in the climate system that takes place over a few The gap between the current state of a system and a state that
decades or less, persists (or is anticipated to persist) for at least a few minimizes adverse impacts from existing climate conditions and
decades, and causes substantial disruptions in human and natural systems. variability.

Access to food Adaptation limit

One of the three components underpinning food security, the other two The point at which an actor’s objectives (or system needs) cannot be
being availability and utilization. Access to food is dependent on (1) the secured from intolerable risks through adaptive actions.
affordability of food (i.e., people have income or other resources to
exchange for food); (2) satisfactory allocation within the household or Hard adaptation limit No adaptive actions are possible to avoid
society; and (3) preference (i.e., it is what people want to eat, influenced intolerable risks.
by socio-cultural norms). See also Food security.
Soft adaptation limit Options are currently not available to avoid
Acclimatization intolerable risks through adaptive action.
A change in functional or morphological traits occurring once or repeatedly
II (e.g., seasonally) during the lifetime of an individual organism in its Adaptation needs
natural environment. Through acclimatization the individual maintains The circumstances requiring action to ensure safety of populations and
performance across a range of environmental conditions. For a clear security of assets in response to climate impacts.
differentiation between findings in laboratory and field studies, the term
acclimation is used in ecophysiology for the respective phenomena Adaptation opportunity
when observed in well-defined experimental settings. The term Factors that make it easier to plan and implement adaptation actions,
(adaptive) plasticity characterizes the generally limited scope of changes that expand adaptation options, or that provide ancillary co-benefits.
in phenotype that an individual can reach through the process of
acclimatization. Adaptation options
The array of strategies and measures that are available and appropriate
Adaptability for addressing adaptation needs. They include a wide range of actions
See Adaptive capacity. that can be categorized as structural, institutional, or social.

Adaptation1 Adaptive capacity

The process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects. The ability of systems, institutions, humans, and other organisms to
In human systems, adaptation seeks to moderate or avoid harm or exploit adjust to potential damage, to take advantage of opportunities, or to
beneficial opportunities. In some natural systems, human intervention respond to consequences.3
may facilitate adjustment to expected climate and its effects.
Adaptive management
Incremental adaptation Adaptation actions where the central A process of iteratively planning, implementing, and modifying strategies
aim is to maintain the essence and integrity of a system or process for managing resources in the face of uncertainty and change. Adaptive
at a given scale.2 management involves adjusting approaches in response to observations
of their effect and changes in the system brought on by resulting
Transformational adaptation Adaptation that changes the feedback effects and other variables.
fundamental attributes of a system in response to climate and its
effects. Aggregate impacts
Total impacts integrated across sectors and/or regions. The aggregation
See also Autonomous adaptation, Evolutionary adaptation, and of impacts requires knowledge of (or assumptions about) the relative
Transformation. importance of different impacts. Measures of aggregate impacts include,
for example, the total number of people affected, or the total economic
Adaptation assessment costs, and are usually bound by time, place, and/or sector.
The practice of identifying options to adapt to climate change and
evaluating them in terms of criteria such as availability, benefits, costs, Ancillary benefits
effectiveness, efficiency, and feasibility. See Co-benefits.

Adaptation constraint Anomaly

Factors that make it harder to plan and implement adaptation actions The deviation of a variable from its value averaged over a reference
or that restrict options. period.

1 Reflecting progress in science, this glossary entry differs in breadth and focus from the entry used in the Fourth Assessment Report and other IPCC reports.
2 This definition builds from the definition used in Park et al. (2012).
3 This glossary entry builds from definitions used in previous IPCC reports and the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA, 2005).

1758
Glossary Annex II

Anthropogenic First-generation manufactured biofuel First-generation

Resulting from or produced by human activities. manufactured biofuel is derived from grains, oilseeds, animal fats,
and waste vegetable oils with mature conversion technologies.
Anthropogenic emissions
Emissions of greenhouse gases, greenhouse gas precursors, and Second-generation biofuel Second-generation biofuel uses non-
aerosols caused by human activities. These activities include the burning traditional biochemical and thermochemical conversion processes
of fossil fuels, deforestation, land use changes, livestock production, and feedstock mostly derived from the lignocellulosic fractions of,
fertilization, waste management, and industrial processes. for example, agricultural and forestry residues, municipal solid
waste, etc.
Arid zone
Areas where vegetation growth is severely constrained due to limited Third-generation biofuel Third-generation biofuel would be
water availability. For the most part, the native vegetation of arid zones derived from feedstocks such as algae and energy crops by
is sparse. There is high rainfall variability, with annual averages below advanced processes still under development.
300 mm. Crop farming in arid zones requires irrigation.
These second- and third-generation biofuels produced through new
Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation/Variability (AMO/AMV) processes are also referred to as next-generation or advanced biofuels,
II
A multi-decadal (65- to 75-year) fluctuation in the North Atlantic, in or advanced biofuel technologies.
which sea surface temperatures showed warm phases during roughly
1860 to 1880 and 1930 to 1960 and cool phases during 1905 to 1925 Biomass
and 1970 to 1990 with a range of approximately 0.4°C. See AMO Index The total mass of living organisms in a given area or volume; dead
in WGI AR5 Box 2.5. plant material can be included as dead biomass. Biomass burning is the
burning of living and dead vegetation.
Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Model (AOGCM)
See Climate model. Biome
A biome is a major and distinct regional element of the biosphere,
Attribution typically consisting of several ecosystems (e.g., forests, rivers, ponds,
See Detection and attribution. swamps within a region). Biomes are characterized by typical communities
of plants and animals.
Autonomous adaptation
Adaptation in response to experienced climate and its effects, without Biosphere
planning explicitly or consciously focused on addressing climate change. The part of the Earth system comprising all ecosystems and living
Also referred to as spontaneous adaptation. organisms, in the atmosphere, on land (terrestrial biosphere), or in the
oceans (marine biosphere), including derived dead organic matter, such
Baseline/reference as litter, soil organic matter, and oceanic detritus.
The baseline (or reference) is the state against which change is measured.
A baseline period is the period relative to which anomalies are computed. Boundary organization
The baseline concentration of a trace gas is that measured at a location A bridging institution, social arrangement, or network that acts as an
not influenced by local anthropogenic emissions. intermediary between science and policy.

Biodiversity Business As Usual (BAU)

The variability among living organisms from terrestrial, marine, and Business as usual projections are based on the assumption that operating
other ecosystems. Biodiversity includes variability at the genetic, species, practices and policies remain as they are at present. Although baseline
and ecosystem levels.4 scenarios could incorporate some specific features of BAU scenarios
(e.g., a ban on a specific technology), BAU scenarios imply that no
Bioenergy practices or policies other than the current ones are in place. See also
Energy derived from any form of biomass such as recently living organisms Baseline/reference, Climate scenario, Emission scenario, Representative
or their metabolic by-products. Concentration Pathways, Scenario, Socioeconomic scenario, and SRES
scenarios.
Biofuel
A fuel, generally in liquid form, developed from organic matter or Capacity building
combustible oils produced by living or recently living plants. Examples The practice of enhancing the strengths and attributes of, and resources
of biofuel include alcohol (bioethanol), black liquor from the paper- available to, an individual, community, society, or organization to respond
manufacturing process, and soybean oil. to change.

4 This glossary entry builds from definitions used in the Global Biodiversity Assessment (Heywood, 1995) and the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA, 2005).

1759
 Annex II Glossary

Carbon cycle the solar cycles, volcanic eruptions, and persistent anthropogenic
The term used to describe the flow of carbon (in various forms, e.g., as changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land use. Note
carbon dioxide) through the atmosphere, ocean, terrestrial and marine that the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in its
biosphere, and lithosphere. In this report, the reference unit for the Article 1, defines climate change as: “a change of climate which is
global carbon cycle is GtC or equivalently PgC (1015g). attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the
composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to
Carbon dioxide (CO2) natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods.” The
A naturally occurring gas, also a by-product of burning fossil fuels from UNFCCC thus makes a distinction between climate change attributable
fossil carbon deposits, such as oil, gas, and coal, of burning biomass, of to human activities altering the atmospheric composition, and climate
land use changes, and of industrial processes (e.g., cement production). variability attributable to natural causes. See also Climate change
It is the principal anthropogenic greenhouse gas that affects the Earth’s commitment and Detection and Attribution.
radiative balance. It is the reference gas against which other greenhouse
gases are measured and therefore has a Global Warming Potential of 1. Climate change commitment
Due to the thermal inertia of the ocean and slow processes in the
Carbon dioxide (CO2) fertilization cryosphere and land surfaces, the climate would continue to change
II The enhancement of the growth of plants as a result of increased even if the atmospheric composition were held fixed at today’s values.
atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration. Past change in atmospheric composition leads to a committed climate
change, which continues for as long as a radiative imbalance persists
Carbon sequestration and until all components of the climate system have adjusted to a new
See Uptake. state. The further change in temperature after the composition of the
atmosphere is held constant is referred to as the constant composition
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) temperature commitment or simply committed warming or warming
A mechanism defined under Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol through commitment. Climate change commitment includes other future
which investors (governments or companies) from developed (Annex changes, for example, in the hydrological cycle, in extreme weather
B) countries may finance greenhouse gas emission reduction or removal events, in extreme climate events, and in sea level change. The constant
projects in developing (Non-Annex B) countries, and receive Certified emission commitment is the committed climate change that would
Emission Reduction Units for doing so, which can be credited towards result from keeping anthropogenic emissions constant and the zero
the commitments of the respective developed countries. The CDM is emission commitment is the climate change commitment when emissions
intended to facilitate the two objectives of promoting sustainable are set to zero. See also Climate change.
development in developing countries and of helping industrialized
countries to reach their emissions commitments in a cost-effective way. Climate extreme (Extreme weather or climate event)
See Extreme weather event.
Climate
Climate in a narrow sense is usually defined as the average weather, or Climate feedback
more rigorously, as the statistical description in terms of the mean and An interaction in which a perturbation in one climate quantity causes
variability of relevant quantities over a period of time ranging from months a change in a second, and the change in the second quantity ultimately
to thousands or millions of years. The classical period for averaging leads to an additional change in the first. A negative feedback is one in
these variables is 30 years, as defined by the World Meteorological which the initial perturbation is weakened by the changes it causes; a
Organization. The relevant quantities are most often surface variables positive feedback is one in which the initial perturbation is enhanced.
such as temperature, precipitation, and wind. Climate in a wider sense In this Assessment Report, a somewhat narrower definition is often
is the state, including a statistical description, of the climate system. used in which the climate quantity that is perturbed is the global mean
surface temperature, which in turn causes changes in the global
Climate-altering pollutants (CAPs) radiation budget. In either case, the initial perturbation can either be
Gases and particles released from human activities that affect the externally forced or arise as part of internal variability.
climate either directly, through mechanisms such as radiative forcing
from changes in greenhouse gas concentrations, or indirectly, by, for Climate governance
example, affecting cloud formation or the lifetime of greenhouse gases Purposeful mechanisms and measures aimed at steering social systems
in the atmosphere. CAPs include both those pollutants that have a towards preventing, mitigating, or adapting to the risks posed by climate
warming effect on the atmosphere, such as CO2, and those with cooling change (Jagers and Stripple, 2003).
effects, such as sulfates.
Climate model (spectrum or hierarchy)
Climate change A numerical representation of the climate system based on the physical,
Climate change refers to a change in the state of the climate that can chemical, and biological properties of its components, their interactions,
be identified (e.g., by using statistical tests) by changes in the mean and feedback processes, and accounting for some of its known properties.
and/or the variability of its properties, and that persists for an extended The climate system can be represented by models of varying complexity;
period, typically decades or longer. Climate change may be due to that is, for any one component or combination of components, a
natural internal processes or external forcings such as modulations of spectrum or hierarchy of models can be identified, differing in such

1760
Glossary Annex II

aspects as the number of spatial dimensions, the extent to which global mean surface temperature following a unit change in radiative
physical, chemical, or biological processes are explicitly represented, or forcing.
the level at which empirical parameterizations are involved. Coupled
Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Models (AOGCMs) provide a The effective climate sensitivity (units: °C) is an estimate of the global
representation of the climate system that is near or at the most mean surface temperature response to doubled carbon dioxide
comprehensive end of the spectrum currently available. There is an concentration that is evaluated from model output or observations for
evolution towards more complex models with interactive chemistry and evolving non-equilibrium conditions. It is a measure of the strengths of
biology. Climate models are applied as a research tool to study and the climate feedbacks at a particular time and may vary with forcing
simulate the climate, and for operational purposes, including monthly, history and climate state, and therefore may differ from equilibrium
seasonal, and interannual climate predictions. See also Earth System climate sensitivity.
Model.
The transient climate response (units: °C) is the change in the global
Climate prediction mean surface temperature, averaged over a 20-year period, centered
A climate prediction or climate forecast is the result of an attempt to at the time of atmospheric carbon dioxide doubling, in a climate model
produce (starting from a particular state of the climate system) an simulation in which CO2 increases at 1% yr–1. It is a measure of the
estimate of the actual evolution of the climate in the future, for example, strength and rapidity of the surface temperature response to greenhouse
II
at seasonal, interannual, or decadal time scales. Because the future gas forcing.
evolution of the climate system may be highly sensitive to initial
conditions, such predictions are usually probabilistic in nature. See also Climate system
Climate projection, Climate scenario, and Predictability. The climate system is the highly complex system consisting of five major
components: the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the cryosphere, the
Climate projection lithosphere, and the biosphere, and the interactions among them. The
A climate projection is the simulated response of the climate system to climate system evolves in time under the influence of its own internal
a scenario of future emission or concentration of greenhouse gases and dynamics and because of external forcings such as volcanic eruptions,
aerosols, generally derived using climate models. Climate projections solar variations, and anthropogenic forcings such as the changing
are distinguished from climate predictions by their dependence on the composition of the atmosphere and land use change.
emission/concentration/radiative-forcing scenario used, which is in turn
based on assumptions concerning, for example, future socioeconomic Climate variability
and technological developments that may or may not be realized. See Climate variability refers to variations in the mean state and other
also Climate scenario. statistics (such as standard deviations, the occurrence of extremes,
etc.) of the climate on all spatial and temporal scales beyond that of
Climate-resilient pathways individual weather events. Variability may be due to natural internal
Iterative processes for managing change within complex systems in processes within the climate system (internal variability), or to variations
order to reduce disruptions and enhance opportunities associated with in natural or anthropogenic external forcing (external variability). See
climate change. also Climate change.

Climate scenario Climate velocity

A plausible and often simplified representation of the future climate, The speed at which isolines of a specified climate variable travel across
based on an internally consistent set of climatological relationships that landscapes or seascapes due to changing climate. For example, climate
has been constructed for explicit use in investigating the potential velocity for temperature is the speed at which isotherms move due to
consequences of anthropogenic climate change, often serving as input changing climate (km yr–1) and is calculated as the temporal change
to impact models. Climate projections often serve as the raw material in temperature (°C yr–1) divided by the current spatial gradient in
for constructing climate scenarios, but climate scenarios usually require temperature (°C km–1). It can be calculated using additional climate
additional information such as the observed current climate. See also variables such as precipitation or can be based on the climatic niche of
Emission scenario and Scenario. organisms.

Climate sensitivity Climatic driver (Climate driver)

In IPCC reports, equilibrium climate sensitivity (units: °C) refers to the A changing aspect of the climate system that influences a component
equilibrium (steady state) change in the annual global mean surface of a human or natural system.
temperature following a doubling of the atmospheric equivalent carbon
dioxide concentration. Owing to computational constraints, the CMIP3 and CMIP5
equilibrium climate sensitivity in a climate model is sometimes estimated Phases three and five of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project
by running an atmospheric general circulation model coupled to a (CMIP3 and CMIP5), coordinating and archiving climate model
mixed-layer ocean model, because equilibrium climate sensitivity is simulations based on shared model inputs by modeling groups from
largely determined by atmospheric processes. Efficient models can be run around the world. The CMIP3 multi-model data set includes projections
to equilibrium with a dynamic ocean. The climate sensitivity parameter using SRES scenarios. The CMIP5 data set includes projections using the
(units: °C (W m–2)–1) refers to the equilibrium change in the annual Representative Concentration Pathways.

1761
 Annex II Glossary

Coastal squeeze Coral bleaching

A narrowing of coastal ecosystems and amenities (e.g., beaches, salt Loss of coral pigmentation through the loss of intracellular symbiotic
marshes, mangroves, and mud and sand flats) confined between algae (known as zooxanthellae) and/or loss of their pigments.
landward-retreating shorelines (from sea level rise and/or erosion) and
naturally or artificially fixed shorelines including engineering defenses Cryosphere
(e.g., seawalls), potentially making the ecosystems or amenities vanish. All regions on and beneath the surface of the Earth and ocean
where water is in solid form, including sea ice, lake ice, river ice, snow
Co-benefits cover, glaciers and ice sheets, and frozen ground (which includes
The positive effects that a policy or measure aimed at one objective permafrost).
might have on other objectives, irrespective of the net effect on overall
social welfare. Co-benefits are often subject to uncertainty and depend Cultural impacts
on local circumstances and implementation practices, among other Impacts on material and ecological aspects of culture and the lived
factors. Co-benefits are also referred to as ancillary benefits. experience of culture, including dimensions such as identity, community
cohesion and belonging, sense of place, worldview, values, perceptions,
Community-based adaptation and tradition. Cultural impacts are closely related to ecological impacts,
II Local, community-driven adaptation. Community-based adaptation especially for iconic and representational dimensions of species and
focuses attention on empowering and promoting the adaptive capacity landscapes. Culture and cultural practices frame the importance and
of communities. It is an approach that takes context, culture, knowledge, value of the impacts of change, shape the feasibility and acceptability
agency, and preferences of communities as strengths. of adaptation options, and provide the skills and practices that enable
adaptation.
Confidence
The validity of a finding based on the type, amount, quality, and Dead zones
consistency of evidence (e.g., mechanistic understanding, theory, data, Extremely hypoxic (i.e., low-oxygen) areas in oceans and lakes, caused
models, expert judgment) and on the degree of agreement. Confidence by excessive nutrient input from human activities coupled with other
is expressed qualitatively (Mastrandrea et al., 2010). See Box 1-1. See factors that deplete the oxygen required to support many marine
also Uncertainty. organisms in bottom and near-bottom water. See also Eutrophication
and Hypoxic events.
Contextual vulnerability (Starting-point vulnerability)
A present inability to cope with external pressures or changes, such as Decarbonization
changing climate conditions. Contextual vulnerability is a characteristic The process by which countries or other entities aim to achieve a low-
of social and ecological systems generated by multiple factors and carbon economy, or by which individuals aim to reduce their consumption
processes (O’Brien et al., 2007). of carbon.

Convection Deforestation
Vertical motion driven by buoyancy forces arising from static instability, Conversion of forest to non-forest. For a discussion of the term forest
usually caused by near-surface cooling or increases in salinity in the and related terms such as afforestation, reforestation, and deforestation
case of the ocean and near-surface warming or cloud-top radiative see the IPCC Special Report on Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry
cooling in the case of the atmosphere. In the atmosphere, convection (IPCC, 2000). See also the report on Definitions and Methodological
gives rise to cumulus clouds and precipitation and is effective at both Options to Inventory Emissions from Direct Human-induced Degradation
scavenging and vertically transporting chemical species. In the ocean, of Forests and Devegetation of Other Vegetation Types (IPCC, 2003).
convection can carry surface waters to deep within the ocean.
Desertification
Coping Land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas resulting
The use of available skills, resources, and opportunities to address, from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities.
manage, and overcome adverse conditions, with the aim of achieving Land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas is reduction
basic functioning of people, institutions, organizations, and systems in or loss of the biological or economic productivity and complexity of
the short to medium term.5 rainfed cropland, irrigated cropland, or range, pasture, forest, and
woodlands resulting from land uses or from a process or combination
Coping capacity of processes, including processes arising from human activities and
The ability of people, institutions, organizations, and systems, using habitation patterns, such as (1) soil erosion caused by wind and/or
available skills, values, beliefs, resources, and opportunities, to address, water; (2) deterioration of the physical, chemical, biological, or economic
manage, and overcome adverse conditions in the short to medium properties of soil; and (3) long-term loss of natural vegetation (UNCCD,
term.6 1994).

5 This glossary entry builds from the definition used in UNISDR (2009) and IPCC (2012a).
6 This glossary entry builds from the definition used in UNISDR (2009) and IPCC (2012a).

1762
Glossary Annex II

Detection and attribution discounter uses a fixed or possibly time-varying discount rate (>0) from
Detection of change is defined as the process of demonstrating that year to year that makes future value worth less today.
climate or a system affected by climate has changed in some defined
statistical sense, without providing a reason for that change. An identified Disturbance regime
change is detected in observations if its likelihood of occurrence by Frequency, intensity, and types of disturbances of ecological systems,
chance due to internal variability alone is determined to be small, for such as fires, insect or pest outbreaks, floods, and droughts.
example, <10%. Attribution is defined as the process of evaluating the
relative contributions of multiple causal factors to a change or event Diurnal temperature range
with an assignment of statistical confidence (Hegerl et al., 2010). The difference between the maximum and minimum temperature
during a 24-hour period.
Detection of impacts of climate change
For a natural, human, or managed system, identification of a change Downscaling
from a specified baseline. The baseline characterizes behavior in the Downscaling is a method that derives local- to regional-scale (10 to
absence of climate change and may be stationary or non-stationary 100 km) information from larger-scale models or data analyses. Two
(e.g., due to land use change). main methods exist: dynamical downscaling and empirical/statistical
downscaling. The dynamical method uses the output of regional climate
II
Disadvantaged populations models, global models with variable spatial resolution, or high-resolution
Sectors of a society that are marginalized, often because of low global models. The empirical/statistical methods develop statistical
socioeconomic status, low income, lack of access to basic services such relationships that link the large-scale atmospheric variables with local/
as health or education, lack of power, race, gender, religion, or poor regional climate variables. In all cases, the quality of the driving model
access to communication technologies. remains an important limitation on quality of the downscaled information.

Disaster Drought
Severe alterations in the normal functioning of a community or a society A period of abnormally dry weather long enough to cause a serious
due to hazardous physical events interacting with vulnerable social hydrological imbalance. Drought is a relative term; therefore any
conditions, leading to widespread adverse human, material, economic, discussion in terms of precipitation deficit must refer to the particular
or environmental effects that require immediate emergency response precipitation-related activity that is under discussion. For example,
to satisfy critical human needs and that may require external support shortage of precipitation during the growing season impinges on crop
for recovery. production or ecosystem function in general (due to soil moisture
drought, also termed agricultural drought), and during the runoff and
Disaster management percolation season primarily affects water supplies (hydrological drought).
Social processes for designing, implementing, and evaluating strategies, Storage changes in soil moisture and groundwater are also affected
policies, and measures that promote and improve disaster preparedness, by increases in actual evapotranspiration in addition to reductions in
response, and recovery practices at different organizational and societal precipitation. A period with an abnormal precipitation deficit is defined
levels. as a meteorological drought. A megadrought is a very lengthy and
pervasive drought, lasting much longer than normal, usually a decade
Disaster risk or more. For the corresponding indices, see WGI AR5 Box 2.4.
The likelihood within a specific time period of disaster. See Disaster.
Dynamic Global Vegetation Model (DGVM)
Disaster Risk Management (DRM) A model that simulates vegetation development and dynamics through
Processes for designing, implementing, and evaluating strategies, space and time, as driven by climate and other environmental changes.
policies, and measures to improve the understanding of disaster risk,
foster disaster risk reduction and transfer, and promote continuous Early warning system
improvement in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery practices, The set of capacities needed to generate and disseminate timely and
with the explicit purpose of increasing human security, well-being, meaningful warning information to enable individuals, communities,
quality of life, and sustainable development. and organizations threatened by a hazard to prepare to act promptly
and appropriately to reduce the possibility of harm or loss.7
Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)
Denotes both a policy goal or objective, and the strategic and instrumental Earth System Model (ESM)
measures employed for anticipating future disaster risk; reducing existing A coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model in which a
exposure, hazard, or vulnerability; and improving resilience. representation of the carbon cycle is included, allowing for interactive
calculation of atmospheric CO2 or compatible emissions. Additional
Discounting components (e.g., atmospheric chemistry, ice sheets, dynamic vegetation,
A mathematical operation making monetary (or other) amounts received nitrogen cycle, but also urban or crop models) may be included. See
or expended at different times (years) comparable across time. The also Climate model.

7 This glossary entry builds from the definition used in UNISDR (2009) and IPCC (2012a).

1763
 Annex II Glossary

Ecophysiological process El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)

Processes in which individual organisms respond continuously to The term El Niño was initially used to describe a warm-water current
environmental variability or change, such as climate change, generally that periodically flows along the coast of Ecuador and Peru, disrupting
at a microscopic or sub-organ scale. Ecophysiological mechanisms the local fishery. It has since become identified with a basin-wide
underpin individual organisms’ tolerance to environmental stress, and warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean east of the dateline. This oceanic
comprise a broad range of responses defining the absolute tolerances event is associated with a fluctuation of a global-scale tropical and
by individuals of environmental conditions. Ecophysiological responses subtropical surface pressure pattern called the Southern Oscillation. This
may scale up to control species’ geographic ranges. coupled atmosphere-ocean phenomenon, with preferred time scales of
2 to about 7 years, is known as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO).
Ecosystem It is often measured by the surface pressure anomaly difference between
A functional unit consisting of living organisms, their non-living Tahiti and Darwin or the sea surface temperatures in the central and
environment, and the interactions within and between them. The eastern equatorial Pacific. During an ENSO event, the prevailing trade
components included in a given ecosystem and its spatial boundaries winds weaken, reducing upwelling and altering ocean currents such that
depend on the purpose for which the ecosystem is defined: in some cases the sea surface temperatures warm, further weakening the trade winds.
they are relatively sharp, while in others they are diffuse. Ecosystem This event has a great impact on the wind, sea surface temperature,
II boundaries can change over time. Ecosystems are nested within other and precipitation patterns in the tropical Pacific. It has climatic effects
ecosystems, and their scale can range from very small to the entire throughout the Pacific region and in many other parts of the world,
biosphere. In the current era, most ecosystems either contain people as through global teleconnections. The cold phase of ENSO is called La
key organisms, or are influenced by the effects of human activities in Niña. For the corresponding indices, see WGI AR5 Box 2.5.
their environment.
Emergent risk
Ecosystem approach A risk that arises from the interaction of phenomena in a complex
A strategy for the integrated management of land, water, and living system, for example, the risk caused when geographic shifts in human
resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable population in response to climate change lead to increased vulnerability
way. An ecosystem approach is based on the application of scientific and exposure of populations in the receiving region.
methodologies focused on levels of biological organization, which
encompass the essential structure, processes, functions, and interactions Emission scenario
of organisms and their environment. It recognizes that humans, with A plausible representation of the future development of emissions of
their cultural diversity, are an integral component of many ecosystems. substances that are potentially radiatively active (e.g., greenhouse
The ecosystem approach requires adaptive management to deal with gases, aerosols) based on a coherent and internally consistent set
the complex and dynamic nature of ecosystems and the absence of of assumptions about driving forces (such as demographic and
complete knowledge or understanding of their functioning. Priority socioeconomic development, technological change) and their key
targets are conservation of biodiversity and of the ecosystem structure relationships. Concentration scenarios, derived from emission scenarios,
and functioning, in order to maintain ecosystem services.8 are used as input to a climate model to compute climate projections. In
IPCC (1992) a set of emission scenarios was presented, which were used
Ecosystem-based adaptation as a basis for the climate projections in IPCC (1996). These emission
The use of biodiversity and ecosystem services as part of an overall scenarios are referred to as the IS92 scenarios. In the IPCC Special
adaptation strategy to help people to adapt to the adverse effects of Report on Emissions Scenarios (Nakićenović and Swart, 2000) emission
climate change. Ecosystem-based adaptation uses the range of scenarios, the so-called SRES scenarios, were published, some of which
opportunities for the sustainable management, conservation, and were used, among others, as a basis for the climate projections
restoration of ecosystems to provide services that enable people to presented in Chapters 9 to 11 of IPCC (2001) and Chapters 10 and 11
adapt to the impacts of climate change. It aims to maintain and increase of IPCC (2007). New emission scenarios for climate change, the four
the resilience and reduce the vulnerability of ecosystems and people in Representative Concentration Pathways, were developed for, but
the face of the adverse effects of climate change. Ecosystem-based independently of, the present IPCC assessment. See also Climate
adaptation is most appropriately integrated into broader adaptation scenario and Scenario.
and development strategies (CBD, 2009).
Ensemble
Ecosystem services A collection of model simulations characterizing a climate prediction or
Ecological processes or functions having monetary or non-monetary projection. Differences in initial conditions and model formulation result
value to individuals or society at large. These are frequently classified as in different evolutions of the modeled system and may give information
(1) supporting services such as productivity or biodiversity maintenance, on uncertainty associated with model error and error in initial conditions
(2) provisioning services such as food, fiber, or fish, (3) regulating services in the case of climate forecasts and on uncertainty associated with
such as climate regulation or carbon sequestration, and (4) cultural model error and with internally generated climate variability in the case
services such as tourism or spiritual and aesthetic appreciation. of climate projections.

8 This glossary entry builds from definitions used in CBD (2000), MEA (2005), and the Fourth Assessment Report.

1764
Glossary Annex II

Environmental migration Extreme sea level

Human migration involves movement over a significant distance and See Storm surge.
duration. Environmental migration refers to human migration where
environmental risks or environmental change plays a significant role in Extreme weather event
influencing the migration decision and destination. Migration may An extreme weather event is an event that is rare at a particular place
involve distinct categories such as direct, involuntary, and temporary and time of year. Definitions of rare vary, but an extreme weather event
displacement due to weather-related disasters; voluntary relocation as would normally be as rare as or rarer than the 10th or 90th percentile
settlements and economies become less viable; or planned resettlement of a probability density function estimated from observations. By
encouraged by government actions or incentives. All migration decisions definition, the characteristics of what is called extreme weather may vary
are multi-causal, and hence it is not meaningful to describe any migrant from place to place in an absolute sense. When a pattern of extreme
flow as being solely for environmental reasons. weather persists for some time, such as a season, it may be classed as
an extreme climate event, especially if it yields an average or total that
Environmental services is itself extreme (e.g., drought or heavy rainfall over a season).
See Ecosystem services.
Famine
Eutrophication Scarcity of food over an extended period and over a large geographical
II
Over-enrichment of water by nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. area, such as a country, or lack of access to food for socioeconomic,
It is one of the leading causes of water quality impairment. The two most political, or cultural reasons. Famines may be caused by climate-related
acute symptoms of eutrophication are hypoxia (or oxygen depletion) extreme events such as droughts or floods and by disease, war, or other
and harmful algal blooms. See also Dead zones. factors.

Evolutionary adaptation Feedback

For a population or species, change in functional characteristics as a result See Climate feedback.
of selection acting on heritable traits. The rate of evolutionary adaptation
depends on factors such as strength of selection, generation turnover time, Fire weather
and degree of outcrossing (as opposed to inbreeding). See also Adaptation. Weather conditions conducive to triggering and sustaining wild fires,
usually based on a set of indicators and combinations of indicators
Exposure including temperature, soil moisture, humidity, and wind. Fire weather
The presence of people, livelihoods, species or ecosystems, environmental does not include the presence or absence of fuel load.
functions, services, and resources, infrastructure, or economic, social, or
cultural assets in places and settings that could be adversely affected. Fitness (Darwinian)
Fitness is the relative capacity of an individual or genotype to both
External forcing survive and reproduce, quantified as the average contribution of the
External forcing refers to a forcing agent outside the climate system genotype to the gene pool of the next generations. During evolution,
causing a change in the climate system. Volcanic eruptions, solar variations, natural selection favors functions providing greater fitness such that
and anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere and the functions become more common over generations.
land use change are external forcings. Orbital forcing is also an external
forcing as the insolation changes with orbital parameters eccentricity, Flood
tilt, and precession of the equinox. The overflowing of the normal confines of a stream or other body of
water, or the accumulation of water over areas not normally submerged.
Externalities/external costs/external benefits Floods include river (fluvial) floods, flash floods, urban floods, pluvial
Externalities arise from a human activity when agents responsible for floods, sewer floods, coastal floods, and glacial lake outburst floods.
the activity do not take full account of the activity’s impacts on others’
production and consumption possibilities, and no compensation exists Food security
for such impacts. When the impacts are negative, they are external costs. A state that prevails when people have secure access to sufficient
When the impacts are positive, they are external benefits. amounts of safe and nutritious food for normal growth, development,
and an active and healthy life.9 See also Access to food.
Extratropical cyclone
A large-scale (of order 1000 km) storm in the middle or high latitudes Food system
having low central pressure and fronts with strong horizontal gradients A food system includes the suite of activities and actors in the food chain
in temperature and humidity. A major cause of extreme wind speeds (i.e., producing, processing and packaging, storing and transporting,
and heavy precipitation especially in wintertime. trading and retailing, and preparing and consuming food); and the
outcome of these activities relating to the three components underpinning
Extreme climate event food security (i.e., access to food, utilization of food, and food availability),
See Extreme weather event. all of which need to be stable over time. Food security is therefore

9 This glossary entry builds from definitions used in FAO (2000) and previous IPCC reports.

1765
 Annex II Glossary

underpinned by food systems, and is an emergent property of the Greenhouse gas (GHG)
behavior of the whole food system. Food insecurity arises when any Greenhouse gases are those gaseous constituents of the atmosphere,
aspect of the food system is stressed. both natural and anthropogenic, that absorb and emit radiation at
specific wavelengths within the spectrum of terrestrial radiation emitted
Forecast by the Earth’s surface, the atmosphere itself, and clouds. This property
See Climate prediction and Climate projection. causes the greenhouse effect. Water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2),
nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4), and ozone (O3) are the primary
General Circulation Model (GCM) greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere. Moreover, there are a
See Climate model. number of entirely human-made greenhouse gases in the atmosphere,
such as the halocarbons and other chlorine- and bromine-containing
Geoengineering substances, dealt with under the Montreal Protocol. Beside CO2, N2O,
Geoengineering refers to a broad set of methods and technologies that and CH4, the Kyoto Protocol deals with the greenhouse gases sulfur
aim to deliberately alter the climate system in order to alleviate the hexafluoride (SF6), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and perfluorocarbons
impacts of climate change. Most, but not all, methods seek to either (PFCs). For a list of well-mixed greenhouse gases, see WGI AR5 Table
(1) reduce the amount of absorbed solar energy in the climate system 2.SM.1.
II (Solar Radiation Management) or (2) increase net carbon sinks from
the atmosphere at a scale sufficiently large to alter climate (Carbon Ground-level ozone
Dioxide Removal). Scale and intent are of central importance. Two key Atmospheric ozone formed naturally or from human-emitted precursors
characteristics of geoengineering methods of particular concern are that near Earth’s surface, thus affecting human health, agriculture, and
they use or affect the climate system (e.g., atmosphere, land, or ocean) ecosystems. Ozone is a greenhouse gas, but ground-level ozone, unlike
globally or regionally and/or could have substantive unintended effects stratospheric ozone, also directly affects organisms at the surface.
that cross national boundaries. Geoengineering is different from weather Ground-level ozone is sometimes referred to as tropospheric ozone,
modification and ecological engineering, but the boundary can be fuzzy although much of the troposphere is well above the surface and thus
(IPCC, 2012b, p. 2). does not directly expose organisms at the surface. See also Ozone.

Global change Groundwater recharge

A generic term to describe global scale changes in systems, including The process by which external water is added to the zone of saturation
the climate system, ecosystems, and social-ecological systems. of an aquifer, either directly into a geologic formation that traps the
water or indirectly by way of another formation.
Global Climate Model (also referred to as General
Circulation Model, both abbreviated as GCM) Hazard
See Climate model. The potential occurrence of a natural or human-induced physical event
or trend or physical impact that may cause loss of life, injury, or other
Global mean surface temperature health impacts, as well as damage and loss to property, infrastructure,
An estimate of the global mean surface air temperature. However, for livelihoods, service provision, ecosystems, and environmental resources.
changes over time, only anomalies, as departures from a climatology, In this report, the term hazard usually refers to climate-related physical
are used, most commonly based on the area-weighted global average events or trends or their physical impacts.
of the sea surface temperature anomaly and land surface air temperature
anomaly. Heat wave
A period of abnormally and uncomfortably hot weather.
Greenhouse effect
The infrared radiative effect of all infrared-absorbing constituents in the Hotspot
atmosphere. Greenhouse gases, clouds, and (to a small extent) aerosols A geographical area characterized by high vulnerability and exposure
absorb terrestrial radiation emitted by the Earth’s surface and elsewhere to climate change.
in the atmosphere. These substances emit infrared radiation in all
directions, but, everything else being equal, the net amount emitted to Human security
space is normally less than would have been emitted in the absence of A condition that is met when the vital core of human lives is protected,
these absorbers because of the decline of temperature with altitude and when people have the freedom and capacity to live with dignity.
in the troposphere and the consequent weakening of emission. An In the context of climate change, the vital core of human lives includes
increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases increases the the universal and culturally specific, material and non-material elements
magnitude of this effect; the difference is sometimes called the enhanced necessary for people to act on behalf of their interests and to live with
greenhouse effect. The change in a greenhouse gas concentration dignity.
because of anthropogenic emissions contributes to an instantaneous
radiative forcing. Surface temperature and troposphere warm in Human system
response to this forcing, gradually restoring the radiative balance at Any system in which human organizations and institutions play a major
the top of the atmosphere. role. Often, but not always, the term is synonymous with society or

1766
Glossary Annex II

social system. Systems such as agricultural systems, political systems, interaction of climate changes or hazardous climate events occurring
technological systems, and economic systems are all human systems in within a specific time period and the vulnerability of an exposed society
the sense applied in this report. or system. Impacts are also referred to as consequences and outcomes.
The impacts of climate change on geophysical systems, including floods,
Hydrological cycle droughts, and sea level rise, are a subset of impacts called physical
The cycle in which water evaporates from the oceans and the land impacts.
surface, is carried over the Earth in atmospheric circulation as water
vapor, condenses to form clouds, precipitates over ocean and land as Income
rain or snow, which on land can be intercepted by trees and vegetation, The maximum amount that a household, or other unit, can consume
provides runoff on the land surface, infiltrates into soils, recharges without reducing its real net worth. Total income is the broadest measure
groundwater, discharges into streams, and ultimately, flows out into of income and refers to regular receipts such as wages and salaries,
the oceans, from which it will eventually evaporate again. The various income from self-employment, interest and dividends from invested
systems involved in the hydrological cycle are usually referred to as funds, pensions or other benefits from social insurance, and other current
hydrological systems. transfers receivable.11

Hypoxic events Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD)

II
Events that lead to deficiencies of oxygen in water bodies. See also Dead Large-scale mode of interannual variability of sea surface temperature
zones and Eutrophication. in the Indian Ocean. This pattern manifests through a zonal gradient of
tropical sea surface temperature, which in one extreme phase in boreal
Ice cap autumn shows cooling off Sumatra and warming off Somalia in the
A dome-shaped ice mass that is considerably smaller in extent than an west, combined with anomalous easterlies along the equator.
ice sheet.
Indigenous peoples
Ice sheet Indigenous peoples and nations are those that, having a historical
A mass of land ice of continental size that is sufficiently thick to cover continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that developed
most of the underlying bed, so that its shape is mainly determined by on their territories, consider themselves distinct from other sectors of
its dynamics (the flow of the ice as it deforms internally and/or slides the societies now prevailing on those territories, or parts of them. They
at its base). An ice sheet flows outward from a high central ice plateau form at present principally non-dominant sectors of society and are
with a small average surface slope. The margins usually slope more often determined to preserve, develop, and transmit to future generations
steeply, and most ice is discharged through fast flowing ice streams or their ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity, as the basis of their
outlet glaciers, in some cases into the sea or into ice shelves floating continued existence as peoples, in accordance with their own cultural
on the sea. There are only two ice sheets in the modern world, one on patterns, social institutions, and common law system.12
Greenland and one on Antarctica. During glacial periods there were
others. Industrial Revolution
A period of rapid industrial growth with far-reaching social and
Ice shelf economic consequences, beginning in Britain during the second half of
A floating slab of ice of considerable thickness extending from the coast the 18th century and spreading to Europe and later to other countries
(usually of great horizontal extent with a very gently sloping surface), including the United States. The invention of the steam engine was an
often filling embayments in the coastline of an ice sheet. Nearly all ice important trigger of this development. The industrial revolution marks
shelves are in Antarctica, where most of the ice discharged into the the beginning of a strong increase in the use of fossil fuels and emission
ocean flows via ice shelves. of, in particular, fossil carbon dioxide. In this report the terms preindustrial
and industrial refer, somewhat arbitrarily, to the periods before and after
(climate change) Impact assessment 1750, respectively.
The practice of identifying and evaluating, in monetary and/or non-
monetary terms, the effects of climate change on natural and human Industrialized/developed/developing countries
systems. There are a diversity of approaches for categorizing countries on the
basis of their level of development, and for defining terms such as
Impacts (Consequences, Outcomes)10 industrialized, developed, or developing. Several categorizations are
Effects on natural and human systems. In this report, the term impacts used in this report. In the United Nations system, there is no established
is used primarily to refer to the effects on natural and human systems convention for the designation of developed and developing countries
of extreme weather and climate events and of climate change. Impacts or areas. The United Nations Statistics Division specifies developed and
generally refer to effects on lives, livelihoods, health, ecosystems, developing regions based on common practice. In addition, specific
economies, societies, cultures, services, and infrastructure due to the countries are designated as least developed countries, landlocked

10 Reflecting progress in science, this glossary entry differs in breadth and focus from the entry used in the Fourth Assessment Report and other IPCC reports.
11 This glossary entry builds from the definition used in OECD (2003).
12 This glossary entry builds from the definitions used in Cobo (1987) and previous IPCC reports.

1767
 Annex II Glossary

developing countries, small island developing states, and transition Invasive species/Invasive Alien Species (IAS)
economies. Many countries appear in more than one of these categories. A species introduced outside its natural past or present distribution (i.e.,
The World Bank uses income as the main criterion for classifying an alien species) that becomes established in natural or semi-natural
countries as low, lower middle, upper middle, and high income. The ecosystems or habitat, is an agent of change, and threatens native
UNDP aggregates indicators for life expectancy, educational attainment, biological diversity (IUCN, 2000; CBD, 2002).
and income into a single composite human development index (HDI) to
classify countries as low, medium, high, or very high human development. Key vulnerability, Key risk, Key impact
See Box 1-2. A vulnerability, risk, or impact relevant to the definition and elaboration
of “dangerous anthropogenic interference (DAI) with the climate
Informal sector system,” in the terminology of United Nations Framework Convention
Commercial enterprises (mostly small) that are not registered or that on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Article 2, meriting particular attention by
otherwise fall outside official rules and regulations. Among the policy makers in that context.
businesses that make up the informal sector, there is great diversity in
the value of the goods or services produced, the numbers employed, Key risks are potentially severe adverse consequences for humans and
the extent of illegality, and the connection to the formal sector. social-ecological systems resulting from the interaction of climate-
II Many informal enterprises have some characteristics of formal-sector related hazards with vulnerabilities of societies and systems exposed.
enterprises, and some people are in informal employment in the formal Risks are considered “key” due to high hazard or high vulnerability of
sector as they lack legal protection or employment benefits. societies and systems exposed, or both.

Informal settlement Vulnerabilities are considered “key” if they have the potential to combine
A term given to settlements or residential areas that by at least one with hazardous events or trends to result in key risks. Vulnerabilities
criterion fall outside official rules and regulations. Most informal that have little influence on climate-related risk, for instance, due to
settlements have poor housing (with widespread use of temporary lack of exposure to hazards, would not be considered key.
materials) and are developed on land that is occupied illegally with
high levels of overcrowding. In most such settlements, provision for Key impacts are severe consequences for humans and social-ecological
safe water, sanitation, drainage, paved roads, and basic services is systems.
inadequate or lacking. The term slum is often used for informal
settlements, although it is misleading as many informal settlements Land grabbing
develop into good quality residential areas, especially where governments Large acquisitions of land or water rights for industrial agriculture,
support such development. mitigation projects, or biofuels that have negative consequences on
local and marginalized communities.
Institutions
Institutions are rules and norms held in common by social actors that Land surface air temperature
guide, constrain, and shape human interaction. Institutions can be The surface air temperature as measured in well-ventilated screens over
formal, such as laws and policies, or informal, such as norms and land at 1.5 m above the ground.
conventions. Organizations—such as parliaments, regulatory agencies,
private firms, and community bodies—develop and act in response to Land use and Land use change
institutional frameworks and the incentives they frame. Institutions can Land use refers to the total of arrangements, activities, and inputs
guide, constrain, and shape human interaction through direct control, undertaken in a certain land cover type (a set of human actions). The
through incentives, and through processes of socialization. term land use is also used in the sense of the social and economic
purposes for which land is managed (e.g., grazing, timber extraction,
Insurance/reinsurance and conservation). Land use change refers to a change in the use or
A family of financial instruments for sharing and transferring risk among management of land by humans, which may lead to a change in land
a pool of at-risk households, businesses, and/or governments. See also cover. Land cover and land use change may have an impact on the
Risk transfer. surface albedo, evapotranspiration, sources and sinks of greenhouse
gases, or other properties of the climate system and may thus give rise
Integrated assessment to radiative forcing and/or other impacts on climate, locally or globally.
A method of analysis that combines results and models from the physical, See also the IPCC Special Report on Land Use, Land-Use Change, and
biological, economic, and social sciences, and the interactions among Forestry (IPCC, 2000).
these components, in a consistent framework to evaluate the status
and the consequences of environmental change and the policy responses La Niña
to it. See El Niño-Southern Oscillation.

Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Last Glacial Maximum (LGM)

An integrated approach for sustainably managing coastal areas, taking The period during the last ice age when the glaciers and ice sheets
into account all coastal habitats and uses. reached their maximum extent, approximately 21 ka ago. This period

1768
Glossary Annex II

has been widely studied because the radiative forcings and boundary and for teleconnections. A mode of variability is often considered to be
conditions are relatively well known. the product of a spatial climate pattern and an associated climate index
time series.
Likelihood
The chance of a specific outcome occurring, where this might be Monsoon
estimated probabilistically. Likelihood is expressed in this report using A monsoon is a tropical and subtropical seasonal reversal in both the
a standard terminology (Mastrandrea et al., 2010), defined in Box 1-1. surface winds and associated precipitation, caused by differential
See also Confidence and Uncertainty. heating between a continental-scale land mass and the adjacent ocean.
Monsoon rains occur mainly over land in summer.
Livelihood
The resources used and the activities undertaken in order to live. Non-climatic driver (Non-climate driver)
Livelihoods are usually determined by the entitlements and assets to An agent or process outside the climate system that influences a human
which people have access. Such assets can be categorized as human, or natural system.
social, natural, physical, or financial.
Nonlinearity
Low regrets policy A process is called nonlinear when there is no simple proportional
II
A policy that would generate net social and/or economic benefits under relation between cause and effect. The climate system contains many
current climate and a range of future climate change scenarios. such nonlinear processes, resulting in a system with potentially very
complex behavior. Such complexity may lead to abrupt climate change.
Maladaptive actions (Maladaptation) See also Predictability.
Actions that may lead to increased risk of adverse climate-related
outcomes, increased vulnerability to climate change, or diminished North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)
welfare, now or in the future. The North Atlantic Oscillation consists of opposing variations of surface
pressure near Iceland and near the Azores. It therefore corresponds to
Mean sea level fluctuations in the strength of the main westerly winds across the Atlantic
The surface level of the ocean at a particular point averaged over an into Europe, and thus to fluctuations in the embedded extratropical
extended period of time such as a month or year. Mean sea level is often cyclones with their associated frontal systems. See NAO Index in WGI
used as a national datum to which heights on land are referred. AR5 Box 2.5.

Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC) Ocean acidification

Meridional (north-south) overturning circulation in the ocean quantified Ocean acidification refers to a reduction in the pH of the ocean over an
by zonal (east-west) sums of mass transports in depth or density layers. extended period, typically decades or longer, which is caused primarily
In the North Atlantic, away from the subpolar regions, the MOC (which by uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but can also be
is in principle an observable quantity) is often identified with the caused by other chemical additions or subtractions from the ocean.
thermohaline circulation (THC), which is a conceptual and incomplete Anthropogenic ocean acidification refers to the component of pH
interpretation. It must be borne in mind that the MOC is also driven by reduction that is caused by human activity (IPCC, 2011, p. 37).
wind, and can also include shallower overturning cells such as occur in the
upper ocean in the tropics and subtropics, in which warm (light) waters Opportunity costs
moving poleward are transformed to slightly denser waters and subducted The benefits of an activity forgone through the choice of another
equatorward at deeper levels. See also Thermohaline circulation. activity.

Microclimate Outcome vulnerability (End-point vulnerability)

Local climate at or near the Earth’s surface. See also Climate. Vulnerability as the end point of a sequence of analyses beginning with
projections of future emission trends, moving on to the development of
Mitigation (of climate change) climate scenarios, and concluding with biophysical impact studies and
A human intervention to reduce the sources or enhance the sinks of the identification of adaptive options. Any residual consequences that
greenhouse gases. remain after adaptation has taken place define the levels of vulnerability
(Kelly and Adger, 2000; O’Brien et al., 2007).
Mitigation (of disaster risk and disaster)
The lessening of the potential adverse impacts of physical hazards Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ)
(including those that are human-induced) through actions that reduce The midwater layer (200 to 1000 m) in the open ocean in which oxygen
hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. saturation is the lowest in the ocean. The degree of oxygen depletion
depends on the largely bacterial consumption of organic matter, and the
Mode of climate variability distribution of the OMZs is influenced by large-scale ocean circulation.
Underlying space-time structure with preferred spatial pattern and In coastal oceans, OMZs extend to the shelves and may also affect
temporal variation that helps account for the gross features in variance benthic ecosystems.

1769
 Annex II Glossary

Ozone Phenology
Ozone, the triatomic form of oxygen (O3), is a gaseous atmospheric The relationship between biological phenomena that recur periodically
constituent. In the troposphere, it is created both naturally and by (e.g., development stages, migration) and climate and seasonal changes.
photochemical reactions involving gases resulting from human activities
(smog). Tropospheric ozone acts as a greenhouse gas. In the stratosphere, Photochemical smog
it is created by the interaction between solar ultraviolet radiation and A mix of oxidizing air pollutants produced by the reaction of sunlight
molecular oxygen (O2). Stratospheric ozone plays a dominant role in the with primary air pollutants, especially hydrocarbons.
stratospheric radiative balance. Its concentration is highest in the ozone
layer. Poverty
Poverty is a complex concept with several definitions stemming from
Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) different schools of thought. It can refer to material circumstances (such
The pattern and time series of the first empirical orthogonal function as need, pattern of deprivation, or limited resources), economic conditions
of sea surface temperature over the North Pacific north of 20°N. The (such as standard of living, inequality, or economic position), and/or
PDO broadened to cover the whole Pacific Basin is known as the Inter- social relationships (such as social class, dependency, exclusion, lack of
decadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO). The PDO and IPO exhibit similar basic security, or lack of entitlement).
II temporal evolution.
Poverty trap
Parameterization Poverty trap is understood differently across disciplines. In the social
In climate models, this term refers to the technique of representing sciences, the concept, primarily employed at the individual, household,
processes that cannot be explicitly resolved at the spatial or temporal or community level, describes a situation in which escaping poverty
resolution of the model (sub-grid scale processes) by relationships becomes impossible due to unproductive or inflexible resources. A
between model-resolved larger-scale variables and the area- or time- poverty trap can also be seen as a critical minimum asset threshold,
averaged effect of such sub-grid scale processes. below which families are unable to successfully educate their children,
build up their productive assets, and get out of poverty. Extreme poverty
Particulates is itself a poverty trap, since poor persons lack the means to participate
Very small solid particles emitted during the combustion of fossil and meaningfully in society. In economics, the term poverty trap is often
biomass fuels. Particulates may consist of a wide variety of substances. used at national scales, referring to a self-perpetuating condition
Of greatest concern for health are particulates of diameter less than or where an economy, caught in a vicious cycle, suffers from persistent
equal to 10 nm, usually designated as PM10. underdevelopment (Matsuyama, 2008). Many proposed models of
poverty traps are found in the literature.
Pastoralism
A livelihood strategy based on moving livestock to seasonal pastures Predictability
primarily in order to convert grasses, forbs, tree leaves, or crop residues The extent to which future states of a system may be predicted based on
into human food. The search for feed is however not the only reason knowledge of current and past states of the system. Because knowledge
for mobility; people and livestock may move to avoid various natural of the climate system’s past and current states is generally imperfect,
and/or social hazards, to avoid competition with others, or to seek more as are the models that utilize this knowledge to produce a climate
favorable conditions. Pastoralism can also be thought of as a strategy prediction, and because the climate system is inherently nonlinear and
that is shaped by both social and ecological factors concerning chaotic, predictability of the climate system is inherently limited. Even
uncertainty and variability of precipitation, and low and unpredictable with arbitrarily accurate models and observations, there may still be
productivity of terrestrial ecosystems. limits to the predictability of such a nonlinear system (AMS, 2000).

Path dependence Preindustrial

The generic situation where decisions, events, or outcomes at one point See Industrial Revolution.
in time constrain adaptation, mitigation, or other actions or options at
a later point in time. Probability Density Function (PDF)
A probability density function is a function that indicates the relative
Permafrost chances of occurrence of different outcomes of a variable. The function
Ground (soil or rock and included ice and organic material) that remains integrates to unity over the domain for which it is defined and has the
at or below 0°C for at least 2 consecutive years. property that the integral over a sub-domain equals the probability that
the outcome of the variable lies within that sub-domain. For example,
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) the probability that a temperature anomaly defined in a particular way
Toxic organic chemical substances that persist in the environment for is greater than zero is obtained from its PDF by integrating the PDF over
long periods of time, are transported and deposited in locations distant all possible temperature anomalies greater than zero. Probability density
from their sources of release, bioaccumulate, and can have adverse functions that describe two or more variables simultaneously are
effects on human health and ecosystems.13 similarly defined.

13 This glossary entry builds from the definition in the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention, 2001).

1770
Glossary Annex II

Projection Reference scenario

A projection is a potential future evolution of a quantity or set of See Baseline/reference.
quantities, often computed with the aid of a model. Unlike predictions,
projections are conditional on assumptions concerning, for example, Reflexivity
future socioeconomic and technological developments that may or may A system attribute where cause and effect form a feedback loop, in
not be realized. See also Climate prediction and Climate projection. which the effect changes the system itself. Self-adapting systems such
as societies are inherently reflexive, as are planned changes in complex
Proxy systems. Reflexive decision making in a social system has the potential
A proxy climate indicator is a record that is interpreted, using physical to change the underpinning values that led to those decisions. Reflexivity
and biophysical principles, to represent some combination of climate- is also an important aspect of adaptive management.
related variations back in time. Climate-related data derived in this way
are referred to as proxy data. Examples of proxies include pollen analysis, Reforestation
tree ring records, speleothems, characteristics of corals, and various data Planting of forests on lands that have previously contained forests but
derived from marine sediments and ice cores. Proxy data can be calibrated that have been converted to some other use. For a discussion of the
to provide quantitative climate information. term forest and related terms such as afforestation, reforestation, and
deforestation, see the IPCC Special Report on Land Use, Land-Use
II
Public good Change, and Forestry (IPCC, 2000). See also the Report on Definitions
A good that is both non-excludable and non-rivalrous in that individuals and Methodological Options to Inventory Emissions from Direct Human-
cannot be effectively excluded from use and where use by one individual induced Degradation of Forests and Devegetation of Other Vegetation
does not reduce availability to others. Types (IPCC, 2003).

Radiative forcing Relative sea level

Radiative forcing is the change in the net, downward minus upward, Sea level measured by a tide gauge with respect to the land upon which
radiative flux (expressed in W m–2) at the tropopause or top of atmosphere it is situated. See also Mean sea level and Sea level change.
due to a change in an external driver of climate change, such as a
change in the concentration of carbon dioxide or the output of the Sun. Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs)
Sometimes internal drivers are still treated as forcings even though they Scenarios that include time series of emissions and concentrations of
result from the alteration in climate, for example aerosol or greenhouse the full suite of greenhouse gases and aerosols and chemically active
gas changes in paleoclimates. The traditional radiative forcing is computed gases, as well as land use/land cover (Moss et al., 2008). The word
with all tropospheric properties held fixed at their unperturbed values, representative signifies that each RCP provides only one of many
and after allowing for stratospheric temperatures, if perturbed, to possible scenarios that would lead to the specific radiative forcing
readjust to radiative-dynamical equilibrium. Radiative forcing is called characteristics. The term pathway emphasizes that not only the long-
instantaneous if no change in stratospheric temperature is accounted term concentration levels are of interest, but also the trajectory taken
for. The radiative forcing once rapid adjustments are accounted for is over time to reach that outcome (Moss et al., 2010).
termed the effective radiative forcing. For the purposes of this report,
radiative forcing is further defined as the change relative to the year RCPs usually refer to the portion of the concentration pathway extending
1750 and, unless otherwise noted, refers to a global and annual average up to 2100, for which Integrated Assessment Models produced
value. Radiative forcing is not to be confused with cloud radiative forcing, corresponding emission scenarios. Extended Concentration Pathways
which describes an unrelated measure of the impact of clouds on the (ECPs) describe extensions of the RCPs from 2100 to 2500 that were
radiative flux at the top of the atmosphere. calculated using simple rules generated by stakeholder consultations,
and do not represent fully consistent scenarios.
Reanalysis
Reanalyses are estimates of historical atmospheric temperature and Four RCPs produced from Integrated Assessment Models were selected
wind or oceanographic temperature and current, and other quantities, from the published literature and are used in the present IPCC Assessment
created by processing past meteorological or oceanographic data using as a basis for the climate predictions and projections in WGI AR5 Chapters
fixed state-of-the-art weather forecasting or ocean circulation models 11 to 14:
with data assimilation techniques. Using fixed data assimilation avoids
effects from the changing analysis system that occur in operational RCP2.6 One pathway where radiative forcing peaks at approximately
analyses. Although continuity is improved, global reanalyses still suffer 3 W m–2 before 2100 and then declines (the corresponding ECP
from changing coverage and biases in the observing systems. assuming constant emissions after 2100).

Reasons for concern RCP4.5 and RCP6.0 Two intermediate stabilization pathways in
Elements of a classification framework, first developed in the IPCC Third which radiative forcing is stabilized at approximately 4.5 W m–2 and
Assessment Report, which aims to facilitate judgments about what level 6.0 W m–2 after 2100 (the corresponding ECPs assuming constant
of climate change may be “dangerous” (in the language of Article 2 of concentrations after 2150).
the UNFCCC) by aggregating impacts, risks, and vulnerabilities.

1771
 Annex II Glossary

RCP8.5 One high pathway for which radiative forcing reaches Salt-water intrusion/encroachment
greater than 8.5 W m–2 by 2100 and continues to rise for some Displacement of fresh surface water or groundwater by the advance of
amount of time (the corresponding ECP assuming constant emissions salt water due to its greater density. This usually occurs in coastal and
after 2100 and constant concentrations after 2250). estuarine areas due to decreasing land-based influence (e.g., from
reduced runoff or groundwater recharge, or from excessive water
For further description of future scenarios, see WGI AR5 Box 1.1. withdrawals from aquifers) or increasing marine influence (e.g., relative
sea level rise).
Resilience
The capacity of social, economic, and environmental systems to cope with Scenario
a hazardous event or trend or disturbance, responding or reorganizing A plausible description of how the future may develop based on a
in ways that maintain their essential function, identity, and structure, coherent and internally consistent set of assumptions about key driving
while also maintaining the capacity for adaptation, learning, and forces (e.g., rate of technological change, prices) and relationships. Note
transformation.14 that scenarios are neither predictions nor forecasts, but are useful to
provide a view of the implications of developments and actions. See
Return period also Climate scenario, Emission scenario, Representative Concentration
II An estimate of the average time interval between occurrences of an Pathways, and SRES scenarios.
event (e.g., flood or extreme rainfall) of (or below/above) a defined size
or intensity. See also Return value. Sea level change
Sea level can change, both globally and locally due to (1) changes in
Return value the shape of the ocean basins, (2) a change in ocean volume as a result
The highest (or, alternatively, lowest) value of a given variable, on of a change in the mass of water in the ocean, and (3) changes in ocean
average occurring once in a given period of time (e.g., in 10 years). See volume as a result of changes in ocean water density. Global mean sea
also Return period. level change resulting from change in the mass of the ocean is called
barystatic. The amount of barystatic sea level change due to the addition
Risk or removal of a mass of water is called its sea level equivalent (SLE).
The potential for consequences where something of value is at stake and Sea level changes, both globally and locally, resulting from changes in
where the outcome is uncertain, recognizing the diversity of values.15 water density are called steric. Density changes induced by temperature
Risk is often represented as probability of occurrence of hazardous changes only are called thermosteric, while density changes induced by
events or trends multiplied by the impacts if these events or trends salinity changes are called halosteric. Barystatic and steric sea level
occur. Risk results from the interaction of vulnerability, exposure, and changes do not include the effect of changes in the shape of ocean
hazard. In this report, the term risk is used primarily to refer to the risks basins induced by the change in the ocean mass and its distribution.
of climate-change impacts. See also Relative sea level and Thermal expansion.

Risk assessment Sea Surface Temperature (SST)

The qualitative and/or quantitative scientific estimation of risks. The sea surface temperature is the subsurface bulk temperature in the
top few meters of the ocean, measured by ships, buoys, and drifters.
Risk management From ships, measurements of water samples in buckets were mostly
Plans, actions, or policies to reduce the likelihood and/or consequences switched in the 1940s to samples from engine intake water. Satellite
of risks or to respond to consequences. measurements of skin temperature (uppermost layer; a fraction of a
millimeter thick) in the infrared or the top centimeter or so in the
Risk perception microwave are also used, but must be adjusted to be compatible with
The subjective judgment that people make about the characteristics and the bulk temperature.
severity of a risk.
Semi-arid zone
Risk transfer Areas where vegetation growth is constrained by limited water availability,
The practice of formally or informally shifting the risk of financial often with short growing seasons and high interannual variation in
consequences for particular negative events from one party to primary production. Annual precipitation ranges from 300 to 800 mm,
another. depending on the occurrence of summer and winter rains.

Runoff Sensitivity
That part of precipitation that does not evaporate and is not transpired, The degree to which a system or species is affected, either adversely or
but flows through the ground or over the ground surface and returns beneficially, by climate variability or change. The effect may be direct
to bodies of water. See also Hydrological cycle. (e.g., a change in crop yield in response to a change in the mean, range,

14 This definition builds from the definition used in Arctic Council (2013).
15 This definition builds from the definitions used in Rosa (1998) and Rosa (2003).

1772
Glossary Annex II

or variability of temperature) or indirect (e.g., damages caused by an and 11 of IPCC (2007). The following terms are relevant for a better
increase in the frequency of coastal flooding due to sea level rise). understanding of the structure and use of the set of SRES scenarios:

Significant wave height Scenario family Scenarios that have a similar demographic, societal,
The average trough-to-crest height of the highest one-third of the wave economic, and technical change storyline. Four scenario families
heights (sea and swell) occurring in a particular time period. comprise the SRES scenario set: A1, A2, B1, and B2.

Sink Illustrative scenario A scenario that is illustrative for each of the

Any process, activity, or mechanism that removes a greenhouse gas, six scenario groups reflected in the Summary for Policymakers of
an aerosol, or a precursor of a greenhouse gas or aerosol from the Nakićenović and Swart (2000). They include four revised marker
atmosphere. scenarios for the scenario groups A1B, A2, B1, and B2, and two
additional scenarios for the A1FI and A1T groups. All scenario
Social Cost of Carbon (SCC) groups are equally sound.
The net present value of climate damages (with harmful damages
expressed as a positive number) from one more tonne of carbon in the Marker scenario A scenario that was originally posted in draft
form of CO2, conditional on a global emissions trajectory over time. form on the SRES web site to represent a given scenario family. The
II
choice of markers was based on which of the initial quantifications
Social protection best reflected the storyline, and the features of specific models.
In the context of development aid and climate policy, social protection Markers are no more likely than other scenarios, but are considered
usually describes public and private initiatives that provide income or by the SRES writing team as illustrative of a particular storyline.
consumption transfers to the poor, protect the vulnerable against livelihood They are included in revised form in Nakićenović and Swart (2000).
risks, and enhance the social status and rights of the marginalized, with These scenarios received the closest scrutiny of the entire writing
the overall objective of reducing the economic and social vulnerability of team and via the SRES open process. Scenarios were also selected
poor, vulnerable, and marginalized groups (Devereux and Sabates-Wheeler, to illustrate the other two scenario groups.
2004). In other contexts, social protection may be used synonymously
with social policy and can be described as all public and private initiatives Storyline A narrative description of a scenario (or family of scenarios),
that provide access to services, such as health, education, or housing, or highlighting the main scenario characteristics, relationships between
income and consumption transfers to people. Social protection policies key driving forces, and the dynamics of their evolution.
protect the poor and vulnerable against livelihood risks and enhance
the social status and rights of the marginalized, as well as prevent Storm surge
vulnerable people from falling into poverty. The temporary increase, at a particular locality, in the height of the sea
due to extreme meteorological conditions (low atmospheric pressure
Socioeconomic scenario and/or strong winds). The storm surge is defined as being the excess
A scenario that describes a possible future in terms of population, above the level expected from the tidal variation alone at that time and
gross domestic product, and other socioeconomic factors relevant to place.
understanding the implications of climate change.
Storm tracks
Southern Annular Mode (SAM) Originally, a term referring to the tracks of individual cyclonic weather
The leading mode of variability of Southern Hemisphere geopotential systems, but now often generalized to refer to the main regions where
height, which is associated with shifts in the latitude of the midlatitude the tracks of extratropical disturbances occur as sequences of low
jet. See SAM Index in WGI AR5 Box 2.5. (cyclonic) and high (anticyclonic) pressure systems.

Species distribution modeling Stratosphere

Simulation of ecological effects of climate change. Species distribution The highly stratified region of the atmosphere above the troposphere
modeling uses statistically or theoretically derived response surfaces to extending from about 10 km (ranging from 9 km at high latitudes to
relate observations of species occurrence or known tolerance limits to 16 km in the tropics on average) to about 50 km altitude.
environmental predictor variables, thereby predicting a species’ range
as the manifestation of habitat characteristics that limit or support its Stressors
presence at a particular location. Species distribution models are also Events and trends, often not climate-related, that have an important
referred to as environmental niche models. Bioclimate envelope models effect on the system exposed and can increase vulnerability to climate-
can be considered as a subset of species distribution models that predict related risk.
species occurrence or habitat suitability based on climatic variables only.
Subsistence agriculture
SRES scenarios Farming and associated activities that together form a livelihood
SRES scenarios are emission scenarios developed by Nakićenović and strategy in which most output is consumed directly but some may be
Swart (2000) and used, among others, as a basis for some of the climate sold at market. Subsistence agriculture can be one of several livelihood
projections shown in Chapters 9 to 11 of IPCC (2001) and Chapters 10 activities.

1773
 Annex II Glossary

Surface temperature Transformation

See Global mean surface temperature, Land surface air temperature, A change in the fundamental attributes of natural and human systems.
and Sea Surface Temperature.
Tree line
Sustainability The upper limit of tree growth in mountains or at high latitudes. It is
A dynamic process that guarantees the persistence of natural and more elevated or more poleward than the forest line.
human systems in an equitable manner.
Tropical cyclone
Sustainable development A strong, cyclonic-scale disturbance that originates over tropical oceans.
Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising Distinguished from weaker systems (often named tropical disturbances
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (WCED, 1987). or depressions) by exceeding a threshold wind speed. A tropical storm is
a tropical cyclone with 1-minute average surface winds between 18 and
Thermal expansion 32 m s–1. Beyond 32 m s–1, a tropical cyclone is called a hurricane,
In connection with sea level, this refers to the increase in volume (and typhoon, or cyclone, depending on geographic location.
decrease in density) that results from warming water. A warming of the
II ocean leads to an expansion of the ocean volume and hence an increase Troposphere
in sea level. See also Sea level change. The lowest part of the atmosphere, from the surface to about 10 km in
altitude at mid-latitudes (ranging from 9 km at high latitudes to 16 km
Thermocline in the tropics on average), where clouds and weather phenomena occur.
The layer of maximum vertical temperature gradient in the ocean, lying In the troposphere, temperatures generally decrease with height. See
between the surface ocean and the abyssal ocean. In subtropical regions, also Stratosphere.
its source waters are typically surface waters at higher latitudes that have
subducted and moved equatorward. At high latitudes, it is sometimes Tsunami
absent, replaced by a halocline, which is a layer of maximum vertical A wave, or train of waves, produced by a disturbance such as a submarine
salinity gradient. earthquake displacing the sea floor, a landslide, a volcanic eruption, or
an asteroid impact.
Thermohaline circulation (THC)
Large-scale circulation in the ocean that transforms low-density upper Tundra
ocean waters to higher-density intermediate and deep waters and A treeless biome characteristic of polar and alpine regions.
returns those waters back to the upper ocean. The circulation is
asymmetric, with conversion to dense waters in restricted regions at Uncertainty
high latitudes and the return to the surface involving slow upwelling A state of incomplete knowledge that can result from a lack of information
and diffusive processes over much larger geographic regions. The or from disagreement about what is known or even knowable. It may
THC is driven by high densities at or near the surface, caused by cold have many types of sources, from imprecision in the data to ambiguously
temperatures and/or high salinities, but despite its suggestive though defined concepts or terminology, or uncertain projections of human
common name, is also driven by mechanical forces such as wind and behavior. Uncertainty can therefore be represented by quantitative
tides. Frequently, the name THC has been used synonymously with measures (e.g., a probability density function) or by qualitative statements
Meridional Overturning Circulation. See also Meridional Overturning (e.g., reflecting the judgment of a team of experts) (see Moss and
Circulation. Schneider, 2000; Manning et al., 2004; Mastrandrea et al., 2010). See
also Confidence and Likelihood.
Tipping point
A level of change in system properties beyond which a system reorganizes, United Nations Framework Convention
often abruptly, and does not return to the initial state even if the drivers on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
of the change are abated.16 The Convention was adopted on 9 May 1992 in New York and signed
at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro by more than 150 countries
Traditional knowledge and the European Community. Its ultimate objective is the “stabilization
The knowledge, innovations, and practices of both indigenous and local of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that
communities around the world that are deeply grounded in history and would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate
experience. Traditional knowledge is dynamic and adapts to cultural and system.” It contains commitments for all Parties. Under the Convention,
environmental change, and also incorporates other forms of knowledge Parties included in Annex I (all OECD countries and countries with
and viewpoints. Traditional knowledge is generally transmitted orally economies in transition) aim to return greenhouse gas emissions not
from generation to generation. It is often used as a synonym for controlled by the Montreal Protocol to 1990 levels by the year 2000.
indigenous knowledge, local knowledge, or traditional ecological The convention entered in force in March 1994. In 1997, the UNFCCC
knowledge. adopted the Kyoto Protocol.

16 The glossary for the Working Group I contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report defines tipping point in the context of climate: “In climate, a hypothesized critical threshold
when global or regional climate changes from one stable state to another stable state. The tipping point event may be irreversible.”

1774
Glossary Annex II

Uptake CBD, 2002: Decision VI/23: Alien Species that Threaten Ecosystems, Habitats or
The addition of a substance of concern to a reservoir. The uptake of Species. Sixth Ordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the
Convention on Biological Diversity, 7 - 19 April 2002, The Hague, Netherlands,
carbon containing substances, in particular carbon dioxide, is often
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Montreal, QC,
called (carbon) sequestration. Canada, www.cbd.int/decision/cop/?id=7197.
CBD, 2009: Connecting Biodiversity and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation:
Upwelling region Report of the Second Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Biodiversity and
A region of an ocean where cold, typically nutrient-rich waters well up Climate Change. Technical Series No. 41, Secretariat of the Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD), Montreal, QC, Canada, 126 pp.
from the deep ocean.
Cobo, J.R.M., 1987: Study of the Problem of Discrimination Against Indigenous
Populations. Volume 5: Conclusions, Proposals and Recommendations. Sub-
Urban heat island commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities,
The relative warmth of a city compared with surrounding rural areas, United Nations, New York, NY, USA, 46 pp.
associated with changes in runoff, effects on heat retention, and Devereux, S. and R. Sabates-Wheeler, 2004: Transformative Social Protection. IDS
Working Paper 232, Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of
changes in surface albedo.
Sussex, Brighton, UK, 30 pp.
FAO, 2000: State of Food Insecurity in the World 2000. Food and Agricultural
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy, 31 pp.
Important class of organic chemical air pollutants that are volatile Hegerl, G.C., O. Hoegh-Guldberg, G. Casassa, M.P. Hoerling, R.S. Kovats, C. Parmesan,
II
at ambient air conditions. Other terms used to represent VOCs are D.W. Pierce, and P.A. Stott, 2010: Good practice guidance paper on detection
and attribution related to anthropogenic climate change. In: Meeting Report
hydrocarbons (HCs), reactive organic gases (ROGs), and non-methane
of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Expert Meeting on
volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs). NMVOCs are major contributors Detection and Attribution of Anthropogenic Climate Change [Stocker, T.F., C.B.
(together with NOX and CO) to the formation of photochemical oxidants Field, D. Qin, V. Barros, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, P.M. Midgley, and K.L. Ebi
such as ozone. (eds.)]. IPCC Working Group I Technical Support Unit, University of Bern, Bern,
Switzerland, 8 pp.
Heywood, V.H. (ed.), 1995: The Global Biodiversity Assessment. United Nations
Vulnerability17
Environment Programme (UNEP), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK,
The propensity or predisposition to be adversely affected. Vulnerability 1152 pp.
encompasses a variety of concepts and elements including sensitivity IPCC, 1992: Climate Change 1992: The Supplementary Report to the IPCC Scientific
or susceptibility to harm and lack of capacity to cope and adapt. See Assessment [Houghton, J.T., B.A. Callander, and S.K. Varney (eds.)]. Cambridge
also Contextual vulnerability and Outcome vulnerability. University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, 116 pp.
IPCC, 1996: Climate Change 1995: The Science of Climate Change. Contribution of
Working Group I to the Second Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental
Vulnerability index Panel on Climate Change [Houghton, J.T., L.G. Meira Filho, B.A. Callander, N.
A metric characterizing the vulnerability of a system. A climate Harris, A. Kattenberg, and K. Maskell (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press,
vulnerability index is typically derived by combining, with or without Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, 572 pp.
weighting, several indicators assumed to represent vulnerability. IPCC, 2000: Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry. Special Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Watson, R.T., I.R. Noble, B. Bolin,
N.H. Ravindranath, D.J. Verardo, and D.J. Dokken (eds.)]. Cambridge University
Water cycle Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, 377 pp.
See Hydrological cycle. IPCC, 2001: Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis. Contribution of Working Group
I to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Water-use efficiency Change [Houghton, J.T., Y. Ding, D.J. Griggs, M. Noguer, P.J. van der Linden, X.
Dai, K. Maskell, and C.A. Johnson (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press,
Carbon gain by photosynthesis per unit of water lost by evapotranspiration.
Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, 881 pp.
It can be expressed on a short-term basis as the ratio of photosynthetic IPCC, 2003: Definitions and Methodological Options to Inventory Emissions from
carbon gain per unit transpirational water loss, or on a seasonal basis Direct Human-induced Degradation of Forests and Devegetation of Other
as the ratio of net primary production or agricultural yield to the amount Vegetation Types [Penman, J., M. Gytarsky, T. Hiraishi, T. Krug, D. Kruger, R.
of water used. Pipatti, L. Buendia, K. Miwa, T. Ngara, K. Tanabe, and F. Wagner (eds.)]. The
Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Hayama, Japan, 32 pp.
IPCC, 2007: Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working
Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on
References Climate Change [Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning, M. Marquis, K. Averyt,
M.M.B. Tignor, H.L. Miller Jr., and Z. Chen (eds)]. Cambridge University Press,
AMS, 2000: AMS Glossary of Meteorology, Second Edition [Glickman, T.S. (ed.)]. Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, 996 pp.
American Meteorological Society (AMS), Boston, MA, USA, http://glossary. IPCC, 2011: Workshop Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
ametsoc.org/?s=A&p=1. Workshop on Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Marine Biology and Ecosystems
Arctic Council, 2013: Glossary of terms. In: Arctic Resilience Interim Report 2013. [Field, C.B., V. Barros, T.F. Stocker, D. Qin, K.J. Mach, G.-K. Plattner, M.D.
Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and Stockholm Resilience Centre, Mastrandrea, M. Tignor, and K.L. Ebi (eds.)]. IPCC Working Group II Technical
Stockholm, Sweden, p. viii. Support Unit, Carnegie Institution, Stanford, CA, USA, 164 pp.
CBD, 2000: COP 5 Decision V/6: Ecosystem Approach. Fifth Ordinary Meeting of the IPCC, 2012a: Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance
Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, 15 - 26 Climate Change Adaptation. A Special Report of Working Groups I and II of
May 2000, Nairobi, Kenya, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Field, C.B., V. Barros,
(CBD), Montreal, QC, Canada, www.cbd.int/decision/cop/?id=7148. T.F. Stocker, D. Qin, D.J. Dokken, K.L. Ebi, M.D. Mastrandrea, K.J. Mach, G.-K.

17 Reflecting progress in science, this glossary entry differs in breadth and focus from the entry used in the Fourth Assessment Report and other IPCC reports.

1775
 Annex II Glossary

Plattner, S.K. Allen, M. Tignor, and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. Cambridge University Moss, R., J.A. Edmonds, K.A. Hibbard, M.R. Manning, S.K. Rose, D.P. van Vuuren, T.R.
Press, Cambridge, UK, and New York, NY, USA, 582 pp. Carter, S. Emori, M. Kainuma, T. Kram, G.A. Meehl, J.F.B. Mitchell, N. Nakićenović,
IPCC, 2012b: Meeting Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change K. Riahi, S.J. Smith, R.J. Stouffer, A.M. Thomson, J.P. Weyant, and T.J. Wilbanks,
Expert Meeting on Geoengineering [Edenhofer, O., R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. 2010: The next generation of scenarios for climate change research and
Sokona, C. Field, V. Barros, T.F. Stocker, Q. Dahe, J. Minx, K. Mach, G.-K. Plattner, assessment. Nature, 463, 747-756.
S. Schlömer, G. Hansen, and M. Mastrandrea (eds.)]. IPCC Working Group III Nakićenović, N. and R. Swart (eds.), 2000: Special Report on Emissions Scenarios. A
Technical Support Unit, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Special Report of Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Potsdam, Germany, 99 pp. Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA,
IUCN, 2000: IUCN Guidelines for the Prevention of Biodiversity Loss Caused by Alien 599 pp.
Invasive Species. Prepared by the Species Survival Commission, Invasive O’Brien, K., S. Eriksen, L.P. Nygaard, and A. Schjolden, 2007: Why different
Species Specialist Group, International Union for Conservation of Nature interpretations of vulnerability matter in climate change discourses. Climate
(IUCN), Approved by the 51st Meeting of the IUCN Council, Gland, Switzerland, Policy, 7, 7-88.
24 pp., https://portals.iucn.org/library/efiles/documents/Rep-2000-052.pdf. OECD, 2003: OECD Glossary of Statistical Terms. Organisation for Economic Co-
Jagers, S.C. and J. Stripple, 2003: Climate governance beyond the state. Global operation and Development (OECD), Paris, France, http://stats.oecd.org/
Governance, 9, 385-399. glossary/detail.asp?ID=1313.
Kelly, P.M. and W.N. Adger, 2000: Theory and practice in assessing vulnerability to Park, S.E., N.A. Marshall, E. Jakku, A.M. Dowd, S.M. Howden, E. Mendham, and A.
climate change and facilitating adaptation. Climatic Change, 47, 325-352. Fleming, 2012: Informing adaptation responses to climate change through
Manning, M.R., M. Petit, D. Easterling, J. Murphy, A. Patwardhan, H.-H. Rogner, R. theories of transformation. Global Environmental Change, 22, 115-126.
II Swart, and G. Yohe (eds.), 2004: IPCC Workshop on Describing Scientific Rosa, E.A., 1998: Metatheoretical foundations for post-normal risk. Journal of Risk
Uncertainties in Climate Change to Support Analysis of Risk of Options. Research, 1(1), 15-44.
Workshop Report, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Rosa, E.A., 2003: The logical structure of the social amplification of risk framework
Geneva, Switzerland, 138 pp. (SARF): metatheoretical foundation and policy implications. In: The Social
Mastrandrea, M.D., C.B. Field, T.F. Stocker, O. Edenhofer, K.L. Ebi, D.J. Frame, H. Held, Amplification of Risk [Pidgeon, N., R.E. Kasperson, and P. Slovic (eds.)].
E. Kriegler, K.J. Mach, P.R. Matschoss, G.-K. Plattner, G.W. Yohe, and F.W. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 47-79.
Zwiers, 2010: Guidance Note for Lead Authors of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention, 2001: The Stockholm Convention on
Report on Consistent Treatment of Uncertainties. Intergovernmental Panel on Persistent Organic Pollutants (as amended in 2009). Secretariat of the
Climate Change (IPCC), Published online at: www.ipcc-wg2.gov/meetings/ Stockholm Convention, Châtelaine, Switzerland, 63 pp.
CGCs/index.html#UR. UNCCD, 1994: Article 1: Use of Terms. United Nations Convention to Combat
Matsuyama, K., 2008: Poverty Traps. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, Desertification (UNCCD), Paris, France, www.unccd.int/en/about-the-
2nd Edition [Blume, L. and S. Durlauf (eds.)]. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, convention/Pages/Text-Part-I.aspx.
NY, USA, www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_P000332. UNISDR, 2009: 2009 UNISDR Terminology on Disaster Risk Reduction. United Nations
MEA, 2005: Appendix D: Glossary. In: Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Current International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), United Nations,
States and Trends. Findings of the Condition and Trends Working Group, Vol. Geneva, Switzerland, 30 pp.
1 [Hassan, R., R. Scholes, and N. Ash (eds.)]. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment WCED, 1987: Our Common Future. World Commission on Environment and
(MEA), Island Press, Washington, DC, USA, pp. 893-900. Development (WCED), Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 300 pp.
Moss, R. and S. Schneider, 2000: Uncertainties in the IPCC TAR: recommendations to
lead authors for more consistent assessment and reporting. In: IPCC
Supporting Material: Guidance Papers on Cross Cutting Issues in the Third
Assessment Report of the IPCC [Pachauri, R., T. Taniguchi, and K. Tanaka (eds.)].
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Geneva, Switzerland, pp.
33-51.
Moss, R., M. Babiker, S. Brinkman, E. Calvo, T. Carter, J. Edmonds, I. Elgizouli, S. Emori,
L. Erda, K. Hibbard, R. Jones, M. Kainuma, J. Kelleher, J.F. Lamarque, M.
Manning, B. Matthews, J. Meehl, L. Meyer, J. Mitchell, N. Nakicenovic, B. O’Neill,
R. Pichs, K. Riahi, S. Rose, P. Runci, R. Stouffer, D. van Vuuren, J. Weyant, T.
Wilbanks, J.-P. van Ypersele, and M. Zurek, 2008: Towards New Scenarios for
Analysis of Emissions, Climate Change, Impacts and Response Strategies. IPCC
Expert Meeting Report, 19-21 September, 2007, Noordwijkerhout, Netherlands,
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Geneva, Switzerland,
132 pp.

1776