Dictionary of Global Climate Change

280 Pages·1994·9.095 MB·English

by  W. John Maunder (auth.)

Dictionary of
GLOBAL
CLIMATE
CHANGE
Dictionary of
GLOBAL
CLIMATE
CHANGE
Second edition
COMPILED BY
W. John Maunder
AS A CONTRIBUTION OF THE
STOCKHOLM ENVIRONMENT INSTITUTE
TO THE SECOND WORLD CLIMATE CONFERENCE
Chapman & Hall
New York
© Stockholm Environment Institute and W. John Maunder 1992, 1994
First published in 1992
Second edition 1994
UCL Press Limited
University College London
Gower Street
London WClE 6BT
The name of University College London (VCL) is a registered
trade mark used by UCL Press with the conseJ;lt of the owner.
First published in North America in 1992 by
Chapman & Hall, Inc.
One Penn Plaza
New York, NY 10119
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or uti
lized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Maunder, W. J.
Dictionary of global climate change / compiled by W. J. Maunder as a contri
bution of the Stockholm Environment Institute to the Second World Climate
Conference.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4615-6843-8 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4615-6841-4
DOl: 10.1007/978-1-4615-6841-4
1. Climatic changes. I. Stockholm Environment Institute.
II. World Climate Conference (2nd: 1990: Geneva, Switzerland)
III. Title.
QC981.8.C5M38 1992
551.6-dc20 92-19059
CIP
Typset in Palacio (Palatino).
CONTENTS
Foreword vii
Preface ix
Preface to the second edition xi
Acknowledgements xiii
Sources of information xv
Abbreviations & acronyms xxi
The dictionary 1
v
FOREWORD
Climate, climate change, climate fluctuations and climatic trends are only a few of the
terms used today, in not only conferences, scientific symposia and workshops, but
also parliaments and in discussions throughout society. To climatologists these
terms may be well known; to the vast majority of people, however, they are new,
and they require definition and explanation.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) inherited an interest and
involvement in the studies of climate and climate change from its predecessor, the
International Meteorological Organization (IMo), which was established in 1873.
By 1929 the IMO had set up a Commission for Climatology to deal with matters
related to climate studies. When, in 1950, the World Meteorological Organization
assumed the mantle of the IMO, it retained the commission which, among other
responsibilities, had already recognized the need for the definition and explana
tion of terms used in climatology. It must also be said that much of what we now
know about climate derives from the scientific and technical programmes co
ordinated by IMO and now, to a much greater extent, by WMO. In 1979, the First
World Climate Conference made an assessment of the status of knowledge of
climate and climate variability, and recommended the establishment of a World
Climate Programme. This recommendation was fully endorsed by the Eighth
World Meteorological Congress, and the World Climate Programme was subse
quently established by WMO in co-operation with the International Council of
Scientific Unions (ICSU) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The Second World Climate Conference, convened in October /November 1990, by
WMO, and co-sponsored by UNEP, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization/Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (UNESCO /
IOC), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and ICSU, called for some
important action programmes, among which were a negotiating mechanism for
the development of a Framework Convention on Climate Change, as well as the
development of a Global Climate Observing System.
To address the issues relating to terms and terminology used in climatology,
in 1990 Dr W. J. Maunder (New Zealand) compiled a provisional edition of "The
Climate Change Lexicon", which was made available to participants attending the
Second World Climate Conference. This provided an excellent opportunity to
assess the usefulness of such a publication in many allied disciplines. The positive
feedback encouraged the revision and expansion of the provisional text prepared
by Dr Maunder, who is currently President of the WMO Commission on Climatol
ogy. Indeed, Dr Maunder's long experience and broad knowledge in the field of
climatology make it befitting for him to author this present new Dictionary of global
climate change.
vii
Foreword
Given the importance of this new publication to a wide variety of audiences, I
am very happy to convey my thanks and congratulations to the authorities of the
Stockholm Environment Institute for their initiative in sponsoring this work. The
dictionary will surely contribute to a better understanding of the many complex
issues which have arisen and which will continue to arise in the many facets of the
climate and climate change arena.
G. O. P. Obasi
Secretary-General
World Meteorological Organization
viii
PREFACE
The provisional edition of The climate change lexicon (renamed in this publication as
the Dictionary of global climate change) was compiled in 1990 while I was employed
by the Stockholm Environment Institute and in the Secretariat of the Second World
Climate Conference. The final edition of the Dictionary of global climate change
was completed during 1991 while I was employed by the Australian Bureau of
Meteorology and the Atmospheric Environment Service of Environment Canada,
and it reflects comments I received on the provisional edition. It also incorporates
many additional items as well as corrections and additions to several of the items
which appeared in the provisional edition.
As noted in the Foreword written by Professor G. O. P. Obasi (Secretary-General
of the World Meteorological Organization), the original lexicon was written in par
ticular for participants at the Second World Climate Conference. The Co-ordinator
of the Conference, Mr H. L. Ferguson, was instrumental in suggesting to me that a
lexicon/ dictionary of climate change would be very useful, and I would like to
highlight the following extracts from the foreword written by Mr Ferguson for the
original lexicon:
In 1979 the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) convened a World Cli
mate Conference in Geneva .... It reflected a growing interest within the scien
tific community in the question of climate, climate variations and climate
change. In 1986, with public interest in climate change on the rise, WMO decided
that it would be appropriate to convene a Second World Climate Conference
(swcc) .... In the early stages of planning for the swcc, events in the interna
tional arena on global climate change and related problems began to move with
unprecedented speed .... In particular, the Brundtland Report, issued in 1987,
called for new national and international initiatives for sustainable economic
development, and the Toronto Conference on the Changing Atmosphere in
1988 called for a "Global Commons" approach and efforts to develop a law of
the atmosphere, and proposed quantitative targets for reducing anthropogenic
emissions of greenhouse gases. Meanwhile, WMO and UNEP jointly created the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPcc) ....
In the light of this growing "climate of concern" the organizers of the Second
World Climate Conference made several important decisions. They decided to
hold the Conference in October/November 1990 when the report of the IPCC
would be available for review. They determined that the Conference should
consist of a scientific/technical component followed by a ministerial meeting,
and they assigned an especially high priority to ensuring the participation of
the full range of "stake-holders" in the climate change problem. To meet that
ix
Preface
priority a special effort was made to involve technical experts, planners and pol
icy advisers from a very broad range of disciplines and as many countries of the
world as possible. In the event, the Second World Climate Conference attracted
over 1,400 participants from 137 countries.
Such a mix presented a sizeable challenge for effective communication. The
climate issue, which started from a relatively narrow scientific base, now
encompasses a full range of science, technology, legal, environmental, and other
socio-economic fields, all accompanied by their jargon, acronyms, and national
and international programmes. In an effort to promote better communication
among "stake-holders", it was decided that a lexicon of climate and climate
change should be prepared and provided to SWCC participants. Through a
happy coincidence the Stockholm Environment Institute had under contract Dr
John Maunder, President of WMO'S Commission for Climatology, and volun
teered to make his services available to the swcc Co-ordination Office.
I hope that the lexicon/dictionary will prove useful not only to those who
attended the Second World Climate Conference but also to the media, interpret
ers and translators, readers of lPCC Reports and other major publications, and
the broader community of people interested in climate and climate change.
As will be appreciated, climate and climate change is a rapidly evolving field
and I am aware that the final edition is neither complete nor free of error. However,
I trust it reflects - at least in part - the position of climate and climate change as it
was at the end of 1991.
Various points were raised by the reviewers and others who have independ
ently commented on the provisional edition of, and later additions to, the lexicon/
dictionary. Among the comments were those who suggested that the dictionary
should be more comprehensive. While that would be desirable, I believe that to
make this dictionary much more extensive would require much more expertise
than a single author would normally have. Accordingly, it is important to state
what the Dictionary endeavours to cover and what it does not cover. In particular,
while coverage of most climatological and meteorological aspects of climate
change has been attempted - in part or in whole - by the various entries, it was not
always possible to cover other aspects of climate change in the same comprehen
sive manner, particularly some of the more biological, ecological, geological, engi
neering, economic, political and social aspects. In addition, the author is well
aware that while most of the important "climate/climate change" activities and
programmes of WMO and lCSU are discussed - some in considerable detail-it has
not been possible to cover all of the important "climate/ climate change" activities
and programmes of other international agencies, including those of FAO, UNESCO,
lOC, WHO, UNCTAD, UNDRO and UNEP.
Comments from all users of the dictionary are most welcome.
W. John Maunder
x
PREFACE TO THE
SECOND EDITION
Interest in the changing climate, climate variations, climate change, greenhouse
gases, the ozone hole and related subjects show no signs of abating. Indeed, since
the first edition of this dictionary was published two years ago, there have been
further key developments in the international arena regarding climate change.
Among these were:
• the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED),
held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992
• the IPCC Supplement published in 1992
• the continuing importance of the EI Nino events, and the improved possibil-
ities of forecasting such events
• the Climate Variability and Predictability (CLIVAR) programme ofWMO
• and the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC).
This second edition includes 250 new entries, additions to the text of 17 existing
entries, and replacement text for 15 existing entries. Among the new entries are:
aesthetic degradation Friends of the Earth International
anomaly Global Historical Climatology Net
Antarctic Treaty work (GHCN)
atmospheric pollution habitat
bogus observation Hadley Centre for Climate Predic
Cairo Compact on Climate Change tion and Research
carbon dioxide: the Mauna Loa Human Dimensions of Global Envi
record ronmental Change Protection (HDP)
carbon dioxide emissions ice
chlorofluorocarbon release estimates Information Unit on Climate Change
climate change signals (rucc)
climate policy of the Group of Seven International Data Rescue Co-ordi
compensation of instruments nation Centre (IDCC)
dendroecology IPCC revised emissions scenarios
Earth Council (1992): implications for climate and
economic good sea level
EI Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Kuwait oil fires
extreme value analysis Little Climate Optimum
Framework Convention on Climate methane and global warming
Change ozone hole
xi