Glossary

Adaptation - to adjust to changes in the environment caused by climate change

Carbon footprint - the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions that one's activities produce

Climate change - changes in climate over time caused by human activities

Glaciation - time periods in Earth's history where ice mass on the planet is increased

Greenhouse gas - gases in the atmosphere that absorb and emit radiation and cause the atmosphere to warm by the greenhouse effect

IPCC - the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change, an international group of expert scientists that assess the most current knowledge of climate change information

Mitigation - to decrease one's contribution of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere

Saline - water that contains salt, like that of estuaries or the ocean

Sea level - the average level of the ocean's surface over a given area

Storm surge - a sudden rise in the level of ocean water, generally caused by tropical storms / hurricanes and/or strong winds, that can cause flooding