Climate Change terms starting with T

37 terms

  1. Tailings Second grade or waste material separated from pay material during screening or processing.
  2. Tar sand Swamp-like deposit of a mixture of fine clay, sand, water, and variable amounts of tar-like heavy oil known as bitumen.
  3. TEA transverse-excited atmospheric pressure
  4. Teleconnection Linkage between changes in atmospheric circulation occurring in widely separated parts of the globe.
  5. Temperature (Abbrev. TEMP)- The temperature is a measure of the internal energy that a substance contains. This is the most measured quantity in the atmosphere.
  6. Temperature Inversion (surface-based or elevated) : a layer of the atmosphere in which air temperature increases with height.
  7. Tephra A general term for fragments of volcanic rock and lava, regardless of size, that are blasted into the air by explosions or carried upward by hot gases in…
  8. terminal velocity The constant speed obtained by a falling object when the upward drag on the object balances the downward force of gravity.
  9. Terrestrial Things of the land.
  10. Terrestrial radiation The total infrared radiation emitted by the Earth and its atmosphere in the temperature range of approximately 200 to 300 Kelvin.
  11. terrigenous derived from land areas. For example, wind-blown dust from desert areas can settle into oceans and form terrigenous sediment on the sea floor.
  12. Thermal A relatively small-scale, rising air current produced when the Earth's surface is heated.
  13. Thermally Driven Circulation A diurnally reversing closed cellular wind current resulting from horizontal temperature contrasts caused by different rates of heating or cooling over…
  14. Thermistor A resistor whose resistance changes with temperature. Because of the known dependence of resistance on temperature, the resistor can be used as a…
  15. Thermograph An instrument that measures and records air temperature.
  16. Thermohaline Circulation Large-scale density-driven circulation in the ocean, caused by differences in temperature and salinity.
  17. thermohaline circulation (THC) density-driven circulation system in the world's oceans. In the Atlantic, warm water flows northward in the surface ocean, loses heat to the overlying…
  18. Thermometer An instrument for measuring air temperature.
  19. Threshold the point a system must cross to enter a new state or condition.
  20. Thunder The sound caused by rapidly expanding gases in a lightning discharge.
  21. Thunderstorm A local storm produced by a cumulonimbus cloud and accompanied by lightning and thunder.
  22. Tornado A violently rotating column of air, usually pendant to a cumulonimbus, with circulation reaching the ground.
  23. total carbon The total concentration of carbon in all its organic and non-organic forms.
  24. total cloud water The total concentration (mass/vol) of ice and liquid water particles in a cloud.
  25. Trace Gas Any one of the less common gases found in the Earth's atmosphere. Nitrogen, oxygen, and argon make up more than 99 percent of the Earth's atmosphere.
  26. Trade Winds Persistent tropical winds that blow from the subtropical high pressure centers towards the equatorial low.
  27. Transpiration The process by which water in plants is transferred into water vapor in the atmosphere. Evaporation of water through the leaves of plants.
  28. Transportation sector Consists of private and public passenger and freight transportation, as well as government transportation, including military operations.
  29. tree rings a pattern observed in tree trunks, in which one band is usually equivalent to one year's growth.
  30. Tropical Western Pacific (TWP) site The second ARM research site, it is located in the south Pacific Ocean occupying Manus Island, Nauru Island, and Darwin, Australia.
  31. Tropopause The upper boundary of the troposphere, usually characterized by an abrupt change in lapse rate from positive (decreasing temperature with height) to…
  32. Troposphere The layer of the atmosphere closest to the Earth's surface.
  33. Tropospheric Ozone (O3) See ozone.
  34. Tropospheric ozone (O<sub>3</sub>) See ozone.
  35. Tropospheric Ozone Precursors See ozone precursors.
  36. Trough An elongated area of relatively low atmospheric pressure, usually not associated with a closed circulation, and thus used to distinguish from a closed low.
  37. Turbulence Irregular motion of the atmosphere, as indicated by gusts and lulls in the wind.