Climate Change & The Data
Glossary of Terms: The Data
Aerobic: Requiring, or not destroyed by, the presence of free elemental oxygen.
Aerosols: Solid or liquid particles suspended within the atmosphere (see also: "black carbon aerosols").
Afforestation: Planting of trees on lands not previously forested. For example, conversion of marginal agricultural lands to forest and urban planting efforts.
Anaerobic: Requiring, or not destroyed by, the absence of air or free oxygen.
Anaerobic digestion: The degradation of organic matter (e.g., manure) through the action of microorganisms in the absence of elemental oxygen.
Base year: A targeted year for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. In the Kyoto Protocol, 1990 is the base year for most countries and is the base year used by Montana.
Best Practice Management (BPM): A practice, or set of practices, found to be most effective from an economic and/or institutional perspective.
Biodiesel: A domestically-produced fuel for diesel engines derived from natural oils, such as camelina, canola, mustard, soybean, or other crops (or animal fats). It is typically produced by a chemical reaction between this oil and an alcohol such as methanol, in the presence of a catalyst, to yield the fuel and a glycerin byproduct. Biodiesel can be used in any concentration with petroleum based diesel fuel in existing diesel engines with little or no modification. The “B” in biodiesel blends designates the quantity of biodiesel (e.g., B-80 is 80 percent biodiesel and 20 percent conventional diesel).
Biomass: Plant and/or or animal matter that is capable of, or in a state of, decay.
Biome: A division of the world’s vegetation that corresponds to a particular climate and is characterized by certain types of plants and animals. In Montana, for example, we have several major biomes, including various coniferous forests two types of grassland plains.
Black Carbon Aerosols: Particles of carbon in the atmosphere typically produced by inefficient combustion of fossil fuels or biomass. Black carbon aerosols absorb light from the sun, shade and cool the Earth’s surface, and are believed to generally contribute to atmospheric warming of the atmosphere.
British Thermal Unit (BTU): The amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water one decree Farenheit. One cubic foot of natural gas contains about 1,000 BTUs.
Carbon dioxide (CO2): A colorless, odorless, non-poisonous gas that is a normal part of ambient and atmospheric air. The main one of six gases generally agreed to be greenhouse gases. Human activities such as fossil fuel combustion and land use changes have increased atmospheric concentrations of CO2. Carbon dioxide is the standard used to measure other greenhouse gases, and is expressed as CO2-equivalent.
Conservation Tillage: Typically defined as any tillage and planting system in which 30 percent or more of the crop residue remains on the soil after planting. This disturbs the soil less, and therefore allows soil carbon to accumulate. There are different kinds of conservation tillage systems, including no-till, ridge till, minimum till and mulch till.
Carbon sink: Natural processes that remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than they release over a given period of time. Terrestrial carbon sinks include forest biomasses, rangeland, and certain agricultural acreages. The oceans are also carbon sinks.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs): CFCs are synthetic industrial gases composed of chlorine, fluorine, and carbon. They have been used as refrigerants, aerosol propellants, cleaning solvents and in the manufacture of plastic foam. There are no natural sources of CFCs. CFCs may last decades to centuries in the atmosphere and have been assigned a high global warming potential, much higher than that of CO2. For modeling and forecasting purposes, CFCs are converted into their CO2-equivalents.
Climate change: This general term refers to changes in long-term trends in the average climate, such as changes in average temperatures. For this website, climate change refers to any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity.
Discount rate: The interest rate used to convert future payments into present values.
Ecosystem: The interaction of a complex of plants, animals, and microorganisms and the non-living environment. An ecosystem may have ill-defined natural borders, but increasingly boundaries are defined by human activities such as roadways, utility corridors, and agricultural lands.
Emissions: The release of substances (e.g., greenhouse gases) into the atmosphere.
Emissions trading: A market where countries, companies or facilities can buy emissions from or sell emissions to other emitters. Emissions trading may lower the cost of meeting emission targets. Some entities may achieve reductions at a comparatively low cost, for example. Reductions below a given level could then be sold on a world market to those for whom achieving reductions is more costly.
Ethanol: A clear, colorless, flammable oxygenated hydrocarbon (chemical formula C2 H5 OH). Agricultural alcohol in Montana in most contexts is produced as a fuel and is generally fermented and distilled from any of a variety of grains (starch-based), cellulose (cellulosic-based), or other sources.
Evapotranspiration: The process by which water re-enters the atmosphere through evaporation from the ground and transpiration by plants.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): The IPCC was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization and the UN. The IPCC provides scientific and technical services to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC). The panel reviews research and publishes periodic assessment reports (See also Steve W. Running).
Greenhouse gas (GHG): Any of a variety of gases known to be transparent to incoming solar radiation but capable of absorbing reflected infrared radiation from the Earth’s surface. The principal greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, and chlorofluorocarbons, among others. Greenhouse gases other than CO2 or often converted into CO2-equivalents.
Leakage: The unanticipated decrease or increase in greenhouse gases (GHG) outside of a political boundary as a result of activities within that boundary. A classic example is one state’s preservation of a specific old growth forest to sequester carbon. The removal of that stand of trees from commercial activity may result in a higher harvest of trees in an adjacent state or country. The resulting higher net emission of carbon is known as leakage.
Mauna Loa record: An early and continuous record of atmospheric CO2 concentrations taken at Mauna Loa Observatory, Mauna Loa, Hawaii, since March 1958. This record, since 1958, shows the continuing increase in average annual atmospheric CO2 concentrations.
Methane (CH4): Methane is among six gases identified for their contribution to the greenhouse effect and global warming. Atmospheric CH4 is produced by natural processes, but substantial emissions come from human activities such as landfills, livestock and livestock wastes, natural gas and petroleum production, coal mines, and wastewater treatment. For modeling and forecasting purposes, methane is usually converted and expressed as CO2-equivalent.
Nitrous Oxide (N2O): Nitrous oxide is among six greenhouse gases identified under the Kyoto Protocol. It is produced by natural processes, but substantial emissions stem from human activities such as agriculture and fossil fuel combustion. For modeling and forecasting purposes, nitrous oxide is usually converted and expressed as CO2-equivalent.
Perfluorocarbons (PFCs): PFCs are among six types of greenhouse gases identified by the Kyoto Protocol. These are synthetic industrial gases generated as a by-product of aluminum smelting and uranium enrichment. They also are used as substitutes for CFCs in the manufacture of semiconductors. There are no natural sources of PFCs. For modeling and forecasting purposes, PFCs are usually converted and expressed as CO2-equivalent.
Reforestation: Planting of trees on lands that in recent past were forested. The practice generally excludes immediate replanting of harvested forest lands. The replanting of trees on lands that will not regenerate without assistance.
Sequestration: The removal of CO2, either through biological processes (e.g., plants and trees), or by geological processes through storage of CO2 in underground reservoirs (e.g., salt domes, limestone deposits). Certain biological sequestration strategies assume the CO2 will be stored for at least 100 years, such as in forest fibers and in geological formations. Some biological sequestration approaches capture carbon over relatively short periods of time but cycle the carbon quickly as well. Geological strategies may involve concentration, compression, and transportation of the CO2 (see also, pre-combustion and post-combustion sequestration).
Sink: See Carbon Sink.
Sustainable Agriculture: Broadly defined, sustainable agriculture is an approach to production that enhances environmental quality and the natural resource base; efficiently uses nonrenewable resources and integrates natural biological cycles and controls; and enhances the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole.
