Climate: The average weather conditions of a place over a long period, usually 20 - 30 years or more.
Weather: Day-to-day conditions such as rain, temperature, wind, and humidity.
Climate change: Long-term shifts in climate patterns, mainly driven by human emissions of greenhouse gases.
Climate variability: Natural ups and downs in climate over seasons or years. This is irrespective of changes in long-term climate.
Global warming: The long term increase in average global temperature caused mostly by greenhouse gas emissions. This term is outdated as warming is not the only change noted in the climate. Climate change is essentially the preferred term.
Greenhouse gases: Gases such as carbon dioxide and methane that are resident in the atmosphere and trap heat. This changes the water retention capacity of the atmosphere and can result in changes in rainfall and temperature events.
Emissions: The release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere from human activities.
IPCC: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
AR4: IPCC Assessment Report four from 2007
AR5: IPCC Assessment Report five from 2014
AR6: IPCC Assessment Report six from 2023
RCP: Representative concentration pathway. This is the basis for climate scenarios for the AR5 report.
SSP: Shared socioeconomic pathway. This is the basis for climate scenarios for the AR6 report.
SSP2-45 or RCP4.5: Likely best case or middle of the road scenario
SSP5-85 or RCP8.5: Worst-case scenario- unconstrained development
Near future: 2020-2040 or 2020-2050
Mid Future: 2040-2060 or 2050-2070
Far future: 2060-2090 or 2070-2100
Adaptation: Actions that reduce harm from current or future climate impacts.
Mitigation: Actions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or increase carbon storage.
Baseline climate: A historical reference period used to compare future climate conditions.
Future Anomaly: The future change from baseline historical events
Additionality: The change in climate due to human intervention. i.e., the future difference between the climate with and without anthropogenic inputs
Climate model: A computer-based representation of the climate system used to simulate future conditions.
Climate projection: A possible future climate based on assumptions about emissions and development.
Uncertainty: The range of possible outcomes due to limits in data and knowledge.
Climate resilience: The ability to withstand and recover from climate shocks and stresses.
Climate risk: The potential for harm caused by climate hazards interacting with exposure and vulnerability. Part of the IPCC AR6 risk equation.
Climate Hazard: A climate event that will impact people or assets. This includes both extreme events, such as flood magnitude, drought frequency, as well as long-term trends like warm nights, or rainfall seasonality changes.
Exposure: The presence of people, livelihoods, environment or assets in areas affected by climate hazards. Part of the IPCC AR6 risk equation.
Vulnerability: This is the degree to which climate events will impact people or assets based on their internal sensitivities and adaptive capacities. This includes things like population incomes, population density in urbanised areas, and infant mortality rates.
Adaptive capacity: The ability to adjust, cope, or recover from climate impacts.
Sensitivity: How strongly a system or community is affected by climate conditions. This was part of the IPCC AR5 risk equation, but is incorporated into vulnerability in the AR6 equation.
Extreme event: An unusually severe or rare weather event, such as severe floods or heatwaves. Often expressed as a 1 in 100-year event.
MHEWS: Multi-hazard early warning system
GCF: Green Climate Fund. A major funder of climate projects
iTAP: Independent Technical Advisory Panel. Part of the GCF project development cycle