Climate Change Glossary
Word Definitions Related to
Climate Change and Global Warming
Natural Gas
Underground deposits of gases consisting of 50 to 90 percent methane (CH4) and small amounts of heavier gaseous hydrocarbon compounds such as propane (C3H8) and butane (C4H10).
Neon – (Ne)
A colorless, nearly inert noble gas, neon gives a distinct reddish glow when used in vacuum discharge tubes and neon lamps and is found in air in trace amounts.
Net Biome Production (NBP)
Net gain or loss of carbon from a region. NBP is equal to the Net Ecosystem Production minus the carbon lost due to a disturbance, e.g. a forest fire or a forest harvest.
Net Ecosystem Production (NEP)
Net gain or loss of carbon from an ecosystem. NEP is equal to the Net Primary Production minus the carbon lost through heterotrophic respiration.
Net Primary Production (NPP)
The increase in plant biomass or carbon of a unit of a landscape. NPP is equal to the Gross Primary Production minus carbon lost through autotrophic respiration.
Nitrogen fertilisation
Enhancement of plant growth through the addition of nitrogen compounds. In IPCC Reports, this typically refers to fertilisation from anthropogenic sources of nitrogen such as human-made fertilisers and nitrogen oxides released from burning fossil fuels.
Nitrogen Oxides (NOx)
Gases consisting of one molecule of nitrogen and varying numbers of oxygen molecules. Nitrogen oxides are produced in the emissions of vehicle exhausts and from power stations. In the atmosphere, nitrogen oxides can contribute to formation of photochemical ozone (smog), can impair visibility, and have health consequences; they are thus considered pollutants.
Nitrous Oxide (N2O)
A powerful greenhouse gas with a global warming potential of 296 times that of carbon dioxide (CO2). Major sources of nitrous oxide include soil cultivation practices, especially the use of commercial and organic fertilizers, fossil fuel combustion, nitric acid production, and biomass burning.
Non-linearity
A process is called “non-linear” when there is no simple proportional relation between cause and effect. The climate system contains many such non-linear processes, resulting in a system with a potentially very complex behaviour. Such complexity may lead to rapid climate change.
Non-Methane Volatile Organic Compounds (NMVOCs)
Organic compounds, other than methane, that participate in atmospheric photochemical reactions.
North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)
The North Atlantic Oscillation consists of opposing variations of barometric pressure near Iceland and near the Azores. On average, a westerly current, between the Icelandic low pressure area and the Azores high pressure area, carries cyclones with their associated frontal systems towards Europe. However, the pressure difference between Iceland and the Azores fluctuates on time-scales of days to decades, and can be reversed at times.
A process that results in a reduction in the response of a system to an external influence. For example, increased plant productivity in response to global warming would be a negative feedback on warming, because the additional growth would act as a sink CO2, reducing the atmospheric CO2 concentration.
Negative Feedback
Netcycling
Reusing - trading (buying, selling and swapping) second-hand goods using an Internet service. Reusing goods is environmental, because it reduces CO2 emissions and resource usage.
