Water and Carbon Cycle

• Acidification - The gradual reduction of pH of the oceans, due to dissolving carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
• Convectional Precipitation - Solar radiation heats the air above the ground, causing it to rise, cool & condense forming precipitation (often as thunderstorms).
• Afforestation - Planting trees and vegetation in the aim of increasing forest cover.
• Biofuel - Burning crops and vegetation for electricity and heat.
• Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) - The capture of carbon dioxide emissions directly from the factory, pumped into disused mines rather than being released into the atmosphere.
• Carbon Fluxes - The movement of carbon between stores.
• Carbon Stores - Places where carbon accumulates for a period of time such as rocks and plant matter.
• Carbon Neutral - A process that has no net addition of carbon dioxide to the environment.
• Channel Flow - Water flowing in a rivulet, stream or river.
• Choke Points - Points in the logistics of energy and fuel that are prone to restriction.
• Decomposition - The break down of matter, often by a decomposer which releases carbon dioxide through their own respiration.
• Depression - A system of low pressure, with fronts of precipitation where low and high pressure air masses meet.
• Drainage Basin - The area of land drained by a river and its tributaries.
• Drainage Density - The total length of all rivers & streams divided by the area of the drainage basin.
• Desublimation - The change of state of water from gas to solid, without being a liquid (the opposite process to sublimation).
• Drought - An extended period of deficient rainfall relative to the statistical average for the region (UN).
• Economic Water Scarcity - When water resources are available but insufficient economic wealth limits access to it.
• Energy Mix - The composition of a country’s energy sources.
• Energy Security - The ownership and full control of a country’s energy source, production and transportation.
• Energy Pathway - The movement of energy from its extraction or source, through pipes, freight logistics or cabling.
• Energy Players - Key companies and individuals who own, distribute and sell energy and energy sources.
• ENSO Cycles - El Niño Southern Oscillations - naturally occurring phenomena that involves the movement of warm water in the Equatorial Pacific.
• Evapotranspiration - The combined total moisture transferred from the Earth to the atmosphere, through evaporation and transpiration.
• Global Hydrological Cycle - The continuous transfer of water between land, atmosphere and oceans. The Earth is a closed system.
• Groundwater Flow - Water moving horizontally through permeable or porous rock due to gravity.
• Infiltration - The movement of water vertically through the pores in soil.
• Hydrological Drought - Insufficient soil moisture to meet the needs of vegetation (crops, trees, plants) at a particular time
• Integrated Drainage Basin Management - Establishing a frame of coordinated efforts between administrations (e.g. local government) and stakeholders (e.g businesses) to achieve balanced management of a basin (World Bank).
• Inorganic Carbon - Carbon stored in carbonated rocks.
• Meteorological Drought - When long-term precipitation trends are below average.
• Interception - Raindrops are prevented from falling directly onto the ground, instead hitting the leaves of a tree.
• Monsoon - The drastic variation between wet and dry seasons for sub-tropical areas, caused by a changed prevailing wind. Can lead to annual flooding.
• Nuclear Fusion - The process of joining atomic nuclei together, to produce energy.
• Organic Carbon - Carbon stored in plant material and living organisms.
• OPEC - Oil and Petroleum exporting countries. An organisation that supports and coordinates fossil fuel exporting countries.
• Outgassing - The release of dissolved carbon dioxide (e.g. at plate boundaries, warming the oceans).
• Photosynthesis - The process of converting carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen. All plants and some organisms rely on this process to survive.
• Physical Water Scarcity - A physical lack of available freshwater which cannot meet demand.
• Phytoplankton - Small organisms that rely on photosynthesis to survive, so intake carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
• Renewable - Primary energy that can be re-used to produce electricity or has a short lifetime, therefore any used can be replaced quickly e.g. Hydroelectric, biomass, solar.