Climate Change – Glossary of Terms
On this page you can find some definitions on terms used in climate change coversation
Looks at measures that address the root causes of climate change and the unequal distribution of its effects across different regions, industries, and ethnic or racial groups. The main focus of mitigation efforts is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as a redistribution of climate risks across populations to produce positive long-term effects.
Refers to the development of practices that address the impacts of climate change, or that help our communities shift to new systems adapted to the climate crisis. Activities that help adapt to climate change are more likely to measure effects in the short-term and address the most immediate threats or needs in our systems.
A resilient food system and resilient communities are able to quickly overcome systemic failures resulting from climate change, and are able to thrive and “bounce back” even in adverse scenarios.
Climate Change and Agriculture
The application of ecological principles to agricultural systems and practices, or the branch of science concerned with this.
“Anthropo” meaning human and “genic” meaning generating, anthropogenic climate change refers to climate change caused by human activities. Most notable is the burning of fossil fuels as a source of energy for industry and economic activities. Another human-induced activity relevant to agriculture is the use of nitrogen fertilizers that require energy to produce and lead to nitrous oxide emissions.
CO2 is one example of a greenhouse gas, and since it is changing rapidly with human activities, has become the standard against which other greenhouse gases are compared. Agriculturally relevant greenhouse gases are methane (CH4, 25 times as potent as CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O, 298 times as potent as CO2).
As related to climate change, carbon sequestration is the temporary or permanent removal of CO2 from the atmosphere. This removal can be natural via photosynthesis and subsequent soil organic matter storage or industrialized via carbon capture mechanisms, e.g. CO2 scrubbing.
Biomass carbon sequestration
Storing carbon in growing crops
Carbon wood sequestration
Storing carbon in woody crops
Carbon uptake (plant growth)
Carbon removed from the atmosphere by growing plants via photosynthesis.
An approach to farming that protects the soil from erosion and degradation while otherwise achieving high productivity. Specific practices deployed are typically no or reduced tillage, sound crop rotations, cover cropping, and moderate nutrient inputs. Conservation relies on more natural processes for plant and animal production.
“An ecosystem service is any positive benefit that wildlife or ecosystems provide to people.” Agriculture provides ecosystem services, not only through production of food, feed, fiber, and fuel, but also through water storage and cyding, greenhouse gas regulation, nutrient cycling, and provision of habitat for biodiversity.
Measures properties of gas, how much sun energy it can absorb and how long it can stay in the atmosphere. Specifically, the scale uses CO2 as a baseline because it is the most abundant greenhouse gas and lasts the longest in the atmosphere. A larger GWP means the more a gas can contribute to global warming compared to CO2.
The ability of an organism to show the same physical expression (trait) under different temperature conditions. When the conditions move to high temperature outside of optimal ranges and the organism does not show a change in the trait, we usually label this as ‘heat tolerance’.
Pertaining to a relatively small area, this is the differences in climatic conditions, usually temperature or humidity, close to the earth’s surface.
Careful and deliberate usage of renewable natural resources to ensure not only their presence but also viability for future generations.
The process of implementing economic, policy, business, and environmental practices to restore renewable natural resources to proper threshold levels.
Nitrogen bound within simple or complex molecular arrangements with carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Organic nitrogen is typically that derived from living organisms. For plant production, organic nitrogen must be converted into inorganic nitrogen through the activity of soil microorganisms via the process of mineralization to be taken up by plants.
A structure that allows sunlight energy to enter, but traps the energy to heat the air within where the plants are growing, extending the growing season.
Management of livestock and the grassland resource to attain desired plant/animal production goals and ecosystem services. Specifically, grazing management is characterized by: 1) timing; 2) intensity (e.g., stocking rate, pasture height or mass); and 3) and frequency (e.g., rotational or continuous stocking). These factors describe specific practices that can be adopted at the farm level to achieve a desired outcome at the ecosystem level.
The coagulation of soil particles upon drying that creates a seal or crust to limit air and water exchange with the atmosphere. The crust impedes seed emergence due to its high resistance.
A fungus producing toxins that grows in a plant. Specifically in forages, a mutualistic fungus infecting tall fescue that produces ergot alkaloids, which when consumed by grazing livestock can cause animal health disorders.
The ability of soil to hold water against the force of gravity.
Climate Change and Food Systems
“Climate justice” is a term and a movement that acknowledges climate change has differing social, economic, public health, and other adverse impacts on some communities (particularly communities that have been historically marginalized). Advocates for climate justice are striving to have these inequities addressed through long-term mitigation and adaptation strategies.
Source: Yale Climate Connections
Community resilience is the ability of communities to transition and adapt to new realities and thrive in the process.
These are communities that are impacted “first and worst” by the effects of climate change. These are often marginalized communities –those in rural areas, immigrant communities, refugee communities, BIPOC communities and others–that may be living on lands that are especially susceptible to a lack of infrastructure or capital, a lack of access to governmental resources, those living on sub-par lands and in housing that are subject to flooding and other weather related disasters, and similar.
Frontline communities are also farmers who are directly impacted by climate change and weather extremes. Farmers employing conservation agricultural approaches have typically been better able to overcome smaller changes, but are still vulnerable to more dramatic climate events.
A system in which public policies, institutional practices, cultural representations, and other norms work in various, often reinforcing, ways to perpetuate racial and structural inequities. White supremacy culture allows privileges associated with “whiteness” and disadvantages associated with “color” to endure and adapt over time. Structural racism is not something that a few people or institutions choose to practice. Instead it is a feature of the social, economic, and political systems in which we all exist, it requires no racist actors, and self-perpetuates if not interrupted.
Source: Aspen Institute Glossary
Youth are prominent in the food justice movement today and always. Thousands of young people are educating their communities, creating innovative replicable models, changing policy, and changing the narrative of how our society sees food. Youth leaders in the food system represent every race, class, gender, and sexual orientation. They are urban, suburban, and rural and are in communities and on campuses. They are urban, suburban, and rural. They are in communities and on campuses.
Source: Food Sovereignty Alliance