46 of the ESS glossary’s terms, each with the part of the syllabus where you first meet it.
A model that expresses human environmental impact (I) as the product of population size (P), affluence or consumption per person (A) and the impact of the technology used per unit of consumption (T).
A cylinder of ice drilled from an ice sheet or glacier whose layers and trapped air bubbles record past atmospheric composition and temperature, in Antarctica going back about 800,000 years.
A mass of glacial land ice larger than 50,000 km², such as the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, which together hold enough water to raise sea level by tens of metres.
A positive feedback in which warming melts reflective snow and ice, exposing darker ocean or land that absorbs more solar radiation, which causes further warming and melting.
The unlawful capture, transport and sale of wild animals, plants or their parts, for pets, food, medicine, ornaments or collections, often across national borders.
Fishing that breaks national or international rules, is not reported or is misreported to the authorities, or takes place where no management rules apply, undermining the management of fish stocks.
The number of people moving into an area to live, per 1,000 people of the receiving population per year.
A surface such as concrete, asphalt or a roof that water cannot pass through, so rain becomes surface run-off instead of infiltrating.
The development of male sex organs in female marine snails, such as dog whelks, caused by exposure to endocrine disruptors such as tributyltin.
Conservation of species in their natural habitats, for example in national parks, nature reserves and sanctuaries, so that their ecological relationships and processes are kept.
The burning of waste at high temperatures in a controlled furnace, which greatly reduces its volume and leaves ash, flue gases and heat.
The variable that an investigator changes, chooses or compares in order to see its effect on another variable; plotted on the x-axis of a graph.
A species whose presence, absence or abundance shows a particular environmental condition, such as a level of pollution, because it is sensitive to or tolerant of that condition.
The collective and individual rights of Indigenous peoples, including rights to their lands, territories, resources and culture, and to give or withhold free, prior and informed consent to projects affecting them.
The internally assessed component of ESS, in which each student designs and carries out an investigation of their own environmental research question and presents it as a written report of up to 3,000 words.
The shift from hand production to machine-based manufacturing powered by coal, which began in Britain in the late 18th century and marks the start of large-scale human emissions of carbon dioxide.
The number of deaths of children under one year of age per 1,000 live births in a year.
The transfer of water from the ground surface into the soil.
Agreement to take part in an investigation given by a person who has been told its purpose, what is involved, how their data will be used and that they may withdraw.
Electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths longer than visible light; the Earth’s warmed surface emits long-wave infrared, part of which is absorbed and re-emitted by greenhouse gases.
A flow of energy or matter that crosses the boundary into a system, such as sunlight or rainfall entering an ecosystem.
A plant, such as a pitcher plant or sundew, that traps and digests insects to obtain nitrogen and other nutrients missing from the waterlogged, nutrient-poor soils where it grows.
The amount of incoming solar radiation reaching a given area of the Earth's surface, which varies with latitude, season, time of day and cloud cover.
The value something has as a means to an end, because it is useful to people, such as a forest valued for timber, water supply or tourism income.
A form of aquaculture that farms species from different trophic levels together, so that wastes from fed species such as fish become food or nutrients for shellfish, deposit feeders and seaweeds.
Farming with high inputs of capital, labour, energy, fertilizer or other materials per unit area, producing high yields per hectare.
The temporary storage of precipitation on leaves, stems and other surfaces before it evaporates or drips and flows to the ground.
Fairness between generations, so that people living now do not use resources or cause damage in ways that leave future generations with fewer opportunities.
A warmer interval between glacial periods, usually lasting about 10,000–30,000 years, when ice sheets retreat and atmospheric carbon dioxide is higher; the Holocene is the present interglacial.
An organisation whose members are national governments, set up by treaty to cooperate on shared issues, such as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The United Nations body, set up in 1988, that assesses the published science on climate change and reports on its causes, impacts and the options for mitigation and adaptation.
The property of an energy source whose output varies with conditions that cannot be controlled, such as wind speed or sunlight, so that it is not always available when needed.
The principal court of the United Nations, in The Hague, which settles legal disputes between states and gives advisory opinions on questions of international law, including environmental law.
The body of treaties, customary rules and court decisions between states that governs transboundary pollution, shared resources and global environmental problems, binding states that consent to it.
An international court in Hamburg with 21 judges, created by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which settles disputes over fishing, marine pollution and maritime boundaries and gives advisory opinions.
An international organisation of governments, government agencies and non-governmental organisations, founded in 1948, that assesses the conservation status of species and publishes the IUCN Red List.
The international body set up under the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling that sets catch limits and has kept a moratorium on commercial whaling since 1986.
The difference between the upper and lower quartiles of a data set, measuring the spread of its middle half and little affected by extreme values.
Competition between individuals of different species for the same limited resource.
The belt of low pressure near the equator where the trade winds of the two hemispheres meet and warm, moist air rises, bringing heavy convectional rain; it moves north and south with the seasons.
Competition between individuals of the same species for the same limited resource.
The value something has in and for itself, regardless of whether it is useful to people, as when a species is considered worth protecting simply because it exists.
An alien species that establishes itself, spreads rapidly and harms native biodiversity, ecosystems, the economy or human health, through competition, predation, disease or poisoning.
The artificial supply of water to farmland from rivers, reservoirs or groundwater to grow crops where or when rainfall alone is not enough.
A theoretical system that exchanges neither energy nor matter with its surroundings; no true example exists on Earth.
A global assessment of the extinction risk of species, published by the IUCN, that places each species in a category from Least Concern to Extinct using standard quantitative criteria.