GLOSSARY
Below you will find definitions of terminology used throughout this website. If you are looking for a particular word, click on one of the letters below for quick access.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y #
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y #
A
- Aerosols: Airborne particles [1].
- Agriculture: The science or practice of farming, including growing crops and raising animals for the production of food, fiber, fuel and other products [2].
- Anthropogenic: Made or generated by a human or caused by human activity. The term is used in the context of global climate change to refer to gaseous emissions that are the result of human activities, as well as other potentially climate-altering activities, such as deforestation [1].
- Aquaculture: The farming of plants and animals that live in water, such as fish or shellfish [2].
B
- BayScapes: Colorful, environmentally sound landscapes that provide wildlife habitat; slow and filter polluted runoff; and require less mowing, fertilizer and pesticides [2].
- Bioaccumulation: The uptake and storage of chemical contaminants by living animals and plants. This can occur through direct contact with contaminated water or sediment or through the ingestion of another organism that is contaminated. For example, a small fish might eat contaminated algae, a bigger fish might eat several contaminated fish and a human might eat a bigger, now-contaminated fish. Contaminants typically increase in concentration as they move up the food chain [2].
- Biodiversity: The variety of life forms, the ecological roles they perform and the genetic diversity they contain [2].
- Biofuels: Liquid fuels and blending components produced from biomass (plant) feedstocks, used primarily for transportation [1].
- Biogas: The gas produced from the anaerobic decomposition of organic material in a landfill [1].
- Biological diversity: The variety of life in all forms, levels and combinations, including ecosystem diversity, species diversity and genetic diversity [2].
- Biosphere: The portion of the Earth and its atmosphere that can support life. The part of the global carbon cycle that includes living organisms and biogenic organic matter [1].
- Biota: The flora and fauna of a region [2].
C
- Capital stock: Property, plant and equipment used in the production, processing and distribution of energy resources [1].
- Carbon dioxide (CO2): A colorless, odorless, non-poisonous gas that is a normal part of Earth’s atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is a product of fossil-fuel combustion as well as other processes. It is considered a greenhouse gas as it traps heat (infrared energy) radiated by the Earth into the atmosphere and thereby contributes to the potential for global warming. The global warming potential (GWP) of other greenhouse gases is measured in relation to that of carbon dioxide, which by international scientific convention is assigned a value of one (1). See Global warming potential (GWP) and Greenhouse gases [1].
- Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e): The amount of carbon dioxide by weight emitted into the atmosphere that would produce the same estimated radiative forcing as a given weight of another radiatively active gas. Carbon dioxide equivalents are computed by multiplying the weight of the gas being measured (for example, methane) by its estimated global warming potential (which is 25 for methane). “Carbon equivalent units” are defined as carbon dioxide equivalents multiplied by the carbon content of carbon dioxide (i.e., 12/44) [1].
- Carbon intensity: The amount of carbon by weight emitted per unit of energy consumed. A common measure of carbon intensity is weight of carbon per British thermal unit (Btu) of energy. When there is only one fossil fuel under consideration, the carbon intensity and the emissions coefficient are identical. When there are several fuels, carbon intensity is based on their combined emissions coefficients weighted by their energy consumption levels. See Emissions coefficient and Carbon output rate [1].
- Carbon output rate: The amount of carbon by weight per kilowatthour of electricity produced [1].
- Carbon sequestration: The fixation of atmospheric carbon dioxide in a carbon sink through biological or physical processes [1].
- Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC): Any of various compounds consisting of carbon, hydrogen, chlorine, and fluorine used as refrigerants. CFCs are now thought to be harmful to the earth’s atmosphere [1].
- Clean Water Act: Common name for the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Its purpose is to “restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the nation’s waters,” whether on public or private land. It authorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set water quality criteria for states to use to establish water quality standards [2].
- Climate: The average course or condition of the weather over a period of years as exhibited by temperature, humidity, wind velocity, and precipitation [1]. OR: Climate refers to the "average" weather conditions for an area over a long period of time (e.g., the average high temperature for today's date) [9].
- Climate change: A term that refers to a change in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g., by using statistical tests) by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties, and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer. Climate change can be due to natural internal processes or external forcings, or to persistent anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land use [1].
- Common name: The nonscientific name of an animal or plant most widely used and accepted by the scientific community. See also Scientific name [7].
- Concentrated solar power (CSP) or solar thermal power system: A solar energy conversion system characterized by the optical concentration of solar rays through an arrangement of mirrors to generate a high temperature working fluid. Concentrating solar power (but not Solar thermal power) may also refer to a system that focuses solar rays on aphotovoltaic cell to increase conversion efficiency [10].
- Concentrator: A reflective or refractive device that focuses incident insolation onto an area smaller than the reflective or refractive surface, resulting in increased insolation at the point of focus [10].
- Conservation: The care and protection of natural resources [2].
- Critical habitat: Specific geographic areas, whether occupied by a listed species or not, that are essential for its conservation and that have been formally designated by rule published in the Federal Register [5].
D
- Dam: Any barrier which impounds or diverts water [2].
- Deforestation: The net removal of trees from forested land [1].
- Delmarva Peninsula: The land separating the Chesapeake Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. The Delmarva Peninsula falls within the states of Delaware (Del-), Maryland (-mar-) and Virginia (-va), from which it gets its name [2].
- Diversity: An ecological measure of the variety of organisms present in a habitat [2].
E
- Ecosystem: A natural unit formed by the interaction of a community of plants and animals with the environment in which they live. All of the elements of an ecosystem interact with each other in some way, depending on each other directly or indirectly [2].
- Emissions: Anthropogenic releases of gases to the atmosphere. In the context of global climate change, they consist of radiatively important greenhouse gases (e.g., the release of carbon dioxide during fuel combustion) [1]. OR: The release of climate-altering gases and particles into the atmosphere from human and natural sources.
- Emissions coefficient: A unique value for scaling emissions to activity data in terms of a standard rate of emissions per unit of activity (e.g., pounds of carbon dioxide emitted per Btu of fossil fuel consumed) [1].
- Emission standards: Standards for the levels of pollutants emitted from automobiles and trucks. Congress established the first standards in the Clean Air Act of 1963. Currently, standards are set for four vehicle classes - automobiles, light trucks, heavy-duty gasoline trucks, and heavy-duty diesel trucks [3].
- Energy efficiency: In reference to transportation, the inverse of energy intensiveness: the ratio of outputs from a process to the energy inputs; for example, miles traveled per gallon of fuel (mpg) [3].
- Environment: The place in which an organism lives and the circumstances under which it lives. An environment includes measures like moisture and temperature as much as it refers to the actual physical place where an organism is found [2].
- Erosion: The disruption or movement of soil by wind, water or ice, occurring naturally or as a result of land use practices [2].
- Estuary: A partially enclosed body of water where fresh water from rivers and streams mixes with salt water from the ocean. It is an area of transition from land to sea [2].
F
- Flooding: The temporary submergence of land that is normally dry, often due to periodic events such as storms. See also Inundation [8].
- Fossil fuel: An energy source formed in the Earth’s crust from decayed organic material. The common fossil fuels are petroleum, coal, and natural gas [1].
- Fuel cycle: The entire set of sequential processes or stages involved in the utilization of fuel, including extraction, transformation, transportation, and combustion. Emissions generally occur at each stage of the fuel cycle [1].
G
- Geographic Information System (GIS): A computer program used to view, store and analyze maps and other geographic information [2].
- Geologic framework: The underlying geological setting, structure, and lithology (rock/sediment type) in a given area [8].
- Gigaton: A gigaton represents a billion times more mass than a metric ton [11].
- Global sea-level rise: The worldwide average rise in mean sea level; may be due to a number of different causes, such as the thermal expansion of sea water and the addition of water to the oceans from the melting of glaciers, ice caps, and ice sheets [8].
- Global warming: A gradual increase, observed or projected, in global surface temperature, as one of the consequences of radiative forcing caused by anthropogenic emissions. See Climate change [1].
- Global warming potential (GWP): An index used to compare the relative radiative forcing of different gases without directly calculating the changes in atmospheric concentrations. GWPs are calculated as the ratio of the radiative forcing that would result from the emission of one kilogram of a greenhouse gas to that from the emission of one kilogram of carbon dioxide over a fixed period of time, such as 100 years [1].
- Greenhouse effect: The result of water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other atmospheric gases trapping radiant (infrared) energy, thereby keeping the earth’s surface warmer than it would otherwise be. Greenhouse gases within the lower levels of the atmosphere trap this radiation, which would otherwise escape into space, and subsequent re-radiation of some of this energy back to the Earth maintains higher surface temperatures than would occur if the gases were absent. See Greenhouse gases [1].
- Greenhouse gases: Those gases, such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulfur hexafluoride, that are transparent to solar (short-wave) radiation but opaque to long-wave (infrared) radiation, thus preventing long-wave radiant energy from leaving the Earth’s atmosphere. The net effect is a trapping of absorbed radiation and a tendency to warm the planet’s surface [1].
- Groundwater: Water that is stored under the earth’s surface, in the cracks and spaces between particles of soil, sand and rock [2].
H
- Habitat: The natural home or environment in which a plant, animal or other organism lives, feeds and/or breeds [2].
I
- Impervious: A hardened surface or area that does not allow water to pass through. For example, roads, rooftops, driveways, sidewalks, pools, patios and parking lots are all impervious surfaces [2].
- Indigenous species: A species that is native to the Chesapeake Bay region. It evolved on the North American continent and was present at the time of European colonization. See also Native species [2].
- Infrastructure: The physical structures and facilities that support the functioning of a community, including roads, sewers, water lines and power supplies [2].
- Inundation: The submergence of land by water, particularly in a coastal setting. See also flooding [8].
J
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L
- Land use: The way land is used by humans. Forest, agricultural land and urban/suburban land are all land uses [2].
- Lidar (LIght Detection And Ranging): A remote sensing instrument that uses laser light pulses to measure the elevation of the land surface with a high degree of accuracy and precision [8].
- Low emission vehicle: Any vehicle certified to the low emission standards which are set by the Federal government and/or the state of California [3].
M
- Mean sea level (MSL): The “still water level” (i.e., the level of the sea with high fre- quency motions such as wind waves averaged out); averaged over a period of time such as a month or a year, such that periodic changes in sea level (e.g., due to the tides) are also averaged out; the values of MSL are measured with respect to the level of marks on land (called benchmarks) [8].
- Methane (CH4): A colorless, flammable, odorless hydrocarbon gas which is the major component of natural gas. It is also an important source of hydrogen in various industrial processes. Methane is a greenhouse gas. See also Greenhouse gases [1].
- Migration: The seasonal movement of animals from one region to another [2].
- Migratory: A species that moves from one habitat or region to another on a regular or seasonal basis [2].
- Mitigation: Planning actions taken to avoid an impact altogether to minimize the degree or magnitude of the impact, reduce the impact over time, rectify the impact, or compensate for the impact [6].
N
- Native species: A species that is native to the Chesapeake Bay region. It evolved on the North American continent and was present at the time of European colonization [2].
- Nesting: When a bird makes, repairs or lives in a nest in preparation for giving birth to young [2].
- Nor’easter (northeaster): The name given to the strong northeasterly winds associated with extra-tropical cyclones that occur along East Coast of the United States and Canada; these storms often cause beach erosion and structural damage; wind gusts associated with these storms can approach and sometimes exceed hurricane force in intensity [8].
O
- Ozone: A molecule made up of three atoms of oxygen. Occurs naturally in the stratosphere and provides a protective layer shielding the Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation. In the troposphere, it is a chemical oxidant, a greenhouse gas, and a major component of photochemical smog [1].
- Open space: An area of land that is valued for natural processes and wildlife, agricultural and sylvan production, active and passive recreation and/or other public benefits [2].
P
- Passenger-miles traveled (PMT): One person traveling the distance of one mile. Total passenger- miles traveled, thus, give the total mileage traveled by all persons [3].
- Pathogen: A bacterium, virus or other microorganism that can cause disease [2].
- P.E.: Professional Engineer
- Perennial: Plants that live for more than two growing seasons. Perennial plants either die back after each season (herbaceous plants) or grow continuously (shrubs) [2].
- Permeable: Having pores or openings that allow water to pass through. See also Pervious [2].
- Pervious: A porous surface that water is able to penetrate through [2].
- Pesticides: A general term that describes the chemical substances used to destroy or control insect or plant pests. Many pesticides are manufactured and do not occur naturally in the environment. Others are natural toxins that are extracted from plants and animals [2].
- Photovoltaic and solar thermal energy (as used at electric utilities): Energy radiated by the sun as electromagnetic waves (electromagnetic radiation) that is converted at electric utilities into electricity by means of solar (photovoltaic) cells or concentrating (focusing) collectors [10].
- Photovoltaic cell (PVC): An electronic device consisting of layers of semiconductor materials fabricated to form a junction (adjacent layers of materials with different electronic characteristics) and electrical contacts and being capable of converting incident light directly into electricity (direct current) [10].
- Pollinate: To fertilize a plant by transferring pollen grains from a male plant structure to a female plant structure [2].
- Pollution: The introduction of harmful substances or products into the environment [2].
- Precipitation: Rain, snow, sleet or hail that falls to the ground [2].
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R
- Rain garden: A garden that uses plants and layers of soil, sand and mulch to retain rainwater, reducing the amount of polluted runoff that reaches storm drains and local waterways [2].
- Reforestation: The natural or intentional restoration of a forest, woodland or stand of trees that had been lost due to fire, cutting or other method of deforestation [2].
- Rural: Usually refers to areas with population less than 5,000 [3].
S
- Salt marsh: Wetlands that are located in salt water areas and are dominated by cordgrass, also called Spartina. Salt marshes are one of the most productive plant communities on earth [2].
- Saltwater intrusion: Displacement of fresh or ground water by the advance of salt water due to its greater density, usually in coastal and estuarine areas [8].
- Scientific name: A formal Latin or latinized name applied to a taxonomic group of animals or plants. A species' scientific name is a two-part combination consisting of the genus followed by the species. The name is italicized or underlined. See also Common name [5].
- Shellfish: Aquatic animals, such as clams, crabs, oysters and shrimps, that have a shell or shell-like external skeleton [2].
- Species: A group of organisms made up of similar individuals that are capable of breeding with one another [2].
- Stakeholder: Any person or organization who has an interest in the actions discussed or is affected by the resulting outcomes of a project or action [5].
- Storm surge: An abnormal rise in sea level accompanying a hurricane or other intense storm, whose height is the difference between the observed level of the sea surface and the level that would have occurred in the absence of the cyclone [8].
- Stormwater: Any precipitation in an urban or suburban area that does not evaporate or soak into the ground, but instead collects and flows into storm drains, rivers and streams. Stormwater is also called urban stormwater, stormwater runoff and polluted runoff. Increased development across the Chesapeake Bay watershed has made stormwater the fastest growing source of pollution to the Bay and its rivers and streams [2].
- Sustainability: Maintaining an ecological balance by avoiding depletion of natural resources [2].
T
- Take: To harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct [4].
- Terrestrial: An organism that lives on the land [2].
- Threatened: A species that is likely to become endangered if not protected [2].
- Tidal marsh: A type of marsh in which the flooding characteristics are determined by the tidal movement of the adjacent river, estuary, sea or ocean [2].
- Tidal wetlands: Those wetlands that are exposed to the periodic rise and fall of the astronomical tides. See also Tides [8].
- Tides: The alternate rising and falling of the sea caused by the gravitational attraction of the earth, sun and moon [2].
- Transportation sector: Consists of both private and public passenger and freight transportation, as well as government transportation, including military operations [3].
- Tributary: A creek, stream or river that flows into a larger body of water. For example, the Susquehanna, Potomac and James rivers are tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay [2].
U
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W
- Waterfowl: Any of various birds that swim on water or rely on aquatic environments,including ducks, geese and swans [2].
- Watershed: An area of land that drains into a particular river, lake, bay or other body of water. We all live in a watershed: some are large (like the Chesapeake), while others are small (like your local creek, stream or river) [2].
- Weather: The state of the atmosphere with respect to wind, temperature, cloudiness, moisture, pressure, etc. Weather refers to these conditions at a given point in time (e.g., today's high temperature) [9].
- Wetland: A transitional zone between land and water that is periodically flooded. For example, marshes, swamps and bogs are all wetlands [2].
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- 100-year flood: The standard used by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for floodplain management purposes and to determine the need for flood insurance; a structure located within a special flood hazard area shown on an NFIP map has a 26% chance of suffering flood damage during the term of a 30-year mortgage [8].
References:
- https://www.eia.gov/environment/emissions/ghg_report/pdf/0573%282009%29.pdf
- https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/glossary
- https://info.ornl.gov/sites/publications/files/Pub11639.pdf
- https://www.fws.gov/chesapeakebay/EndSppWeb/elements/private.htm
- https://www.fws.gov/ecological-services/about/glossary.html
- https://www.fws.gov/r9esnepa/Intro/Glossary.PDF
- https://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/glossary/index.html
- U.S. Climate Change Science Program. (2009). Coastal Sensitivity to Carbon Cycle Report Sea-Level Rise: A Focus on the The North American Carbon Budget Mid-Atlantic Region. Retrieved from: https://downloads.globalchange.gov/sap/sap4-1/sap4-1-final-report-all.pdf.
- https://forecast.weather.gov/glossary.php
- https://www.eia.gov/tools/glossary/index.php
- http://math.350.org/questions/