Climate Change terms starting with W

24 terms

  1. Wake The region of turbulence immediately to the rear of a solid body caused by the flow of air over or around the body.
  2. Warm Front A transition zone between a mass of warm air and the colder air it is replacing.
  3. Wastewater Water that typically contains less than 1% concentration of organic hazardous waste materials.
  4. Water sky Water sky The dark appearance of the underside of a cloud layer when it is over a surface of open water.
  5. Water Vapor The most abundant greenhouse gas, it is the water present in the atmosphere in gaseous form.
  6. water vapor path A measure of the total amount of water vapor present in the column. A retrieved quantity from the microwave radiometer.
  7. Waxes Solid or semisolid materials derived from petroleum distillates or residues. Light-colored, more or less translucent crystalline masses, slightly greasy…
  8. Weather The state of the atmosphere with respect to wind, temperature, cloudiness, moisture, pressure, etc.
  9. Westerlies The prevailing winds that blow from the west in the mid-latitudes.
  10. wet-bulb depression The difference in degrees between the air temperature (dry-bulb temperature) and the wet-bulb temperature.
  11. Wet-Bulb Temperature The lowest temperature that can be obtained by evaporting water into the air.
  12. Wetland Area covered all or part of the year by water. Can be identified by typical plants and soil types.
  13. Wetlands Area having specific hydric soil and water table characteristics supporting or capable of supporting wetlands vegetation.
  14. wind chill equivalent temperature The apparent temperature felt on the exposed human body owing to the combination of temperature and wind speed.
  15. Wind Chill Factor Increased wind speeds accelerate heat loss from exposed skin. No specific rules exist for determining when wind chill becomes dangerous.
  16. Wind Field The three-dimensional spatial pattern of winds.
  17. Wind Shear The rate at which wind velocity changes from point to point in a given direction (as, vertically).
  18. wind vane An instrument used to determine wind direction.
  19. windsock A large, conical, open bag designed to indicate wind direction and relative speed; usually used at small airports.
  20. Winter Solstice The time at which the sun is farthest south in the Southern Hemisphere, on or around December 21.
  21. Wood energy Wood and wood products used as fuel, including roundwood (i.e., cordwood), limbwood, wood chips, bark, sawdust, forest residues, and charcoal.
  22. World Meteorological Organization World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Created by the World Meteorological Convention and recognized as a special agency of the United Nations in 1951…
  23. World Meteorological Organization program World Meteorological Organization program Any scientific project (field experiment, inter-comparison, etc.
  24. World Weather Watch World Weather Watch (WWW) The world-wide, coordinated, developing system of meteorological facilities and services provided by WMO Members for the purpose…