greenhouse effect
the natural effect that a planet’s atmosphere has on reducing the amount of radiation emitted into space, resulting in a planet warmer than it would be without an atmosphere
enhanced greenhouse effect
the reduction in radiation emitted into space from Earth due to an increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (especially carbon dioxide) caused by human activities; believed by most scientists to be the cause of global warming
anthropogenic climate change
changes in the climate due to human activities, also called global warming
solar system
the Sun and all the other objects that orbit around it
simulation
simplified visualization (imitation) of a real physical system and how it changes with time, usually part of a computer modelling process
solar constant
intensity of the Sun’s radiation arriving perpendicularly on an area above the Earth’s atmosphere
albedo
the total scattered or reflected power/total incident power (on part of a planet’s surface), albedo depends on the nature of the surface and inclination of the radiation to the surface
incident wave, or ray
wave (or ray) arriving at an object or a boundary
scattering
irregular reflections of waves or particles from their original path by interactions with matter
emissivity
the power radiated by an object divided by the power radiated from a black body of the same surface area and temperature
greenhouse
structure made mostly from a transparent material (usually glass) used for controlling plant growth
greenhouse gases
gases in the Earth’s atmosphere that absorb and re-emit infrared radiation, thereby affecting the temperature of the Earth, the principal greenhouse gases are water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, atmospheric concentrations of the last three of these have been increasing significantly in recent years
global warming
increasing average temperatures of the Earth’s surface, atmosphere and oceans
combustion (of fuels)
burning, release of thermal energy from a chemical reaction between the fuel and oxygen in the air
natural gas
naturally occurring fossil fuel: mixture of gases (mainly methane)
fossil fuels
a fuel is a store of chemical or nuclear energy that can be used to do useful work, naturally occurring fuels that have been produced by the effects of high pressure and temperature on dead organisms (in the absence of oxygen) over a period of millions of years, coal, oil and natural gas are all fossil fuels
non-renewable energy sources
energy sources that take a very long time to form and which are being rapidly used up (depleted), oil, natural gas and coal
collaboration (scientific)
two or more scientists sharing information or working together on the same project
climate model
a complex computerized model that attempts to predict the future climate of the planet, especially how it will be affected by global warming
correlation
there is a correlation between two sets of varying data if they show similarities that would not be expected to occur because of chance alone
renewable energy
energy from sources that will continue to be available for our use for a very long time, they cannot be used up (depleted), except in billions of years, when the Sun reaches the end of its lifetime