33 of the ESS glossary’s terms, each with the part of the syllabus where you first meet it.
The east–west loop of atmospheric circulation over the tropical Pacific, with air rising over the warm western Pacific and sinking over the cooler eastern Pacific.
Any material that is no longer wanted or useful to its owner and is discarded, including solid, liquid and gaseous materials from households, industry, agriculture and services.
A ranking of waste management options in order of preference, from preventing waste by refusing and reducing, through reuse and recycling, to energy recovery and finally disposal.
The recovery of energy from waste, usually by incinerating it to generate electricity and heat, or by capturing biogas from landfills and anaerobic digesters.
The international movement of waste across borders for recycling, recovery or disposal, usually from high-income to lower-income countries where labour is cheaper and regulation weaker.
An account of all the inputs and outputs of water for a store such as a lake, aquifer or drainage basin over a period, showing the change in storage.
The use of practices, technologies and regulations that reduce the amount of water used or wasted, so that existing supplies last longer and meet more needs.
The total volume of fresh water used directly and indirectly to produce the goods and services consumed by a person, product or country, usually in cubic metres per year.
The measurement of the volume of water each household or business uses with a meter, so that it pays for what it uses and has an incentive to use less.
The chemical, physical and biological characteristics of water, measured against the standards needed for a particular use or for a healthy aquatic ecosystem.
A single number, usually on a scale of 0 to 100, calculated as a weighted average of the quality values of several water tests, summarising the overall degree of contamination.
A limit set by an authority on how much water each person, household or sector may use in a given period, usually during a drought or supply crisis.
The limited availability of freshwater to human societies, either because there is too little water (physical scarcity) or because storage and transport systems are inadequate (economic scarcity).
The condition in which a population has reliable access to sufficient quantities of safe drinking water for health, livelihoods and well-being; a key component of a sustainable society.
A condition in which the demand for clean, accessible water exceeds supply, taking account of water quality, environmental flows and access; defined as less than 1,700 m³ per person per year.
The movement of large volumes of water by canals, tunnels or pipelines from a river basin with a surplus to one with a deficit.
Water in its gaseous state in the atmosphere; the most abundant greenhouse gas, whose amount depends on temperature, so it amplifies warming caused by other gases rather than driving it.
The removal of freshwater from a river, lake or aquifer for human use, whether or not it is later returned to the environment.
The amount of water a soil can retain in its pores against gravity after free drainage, which depends mainly on its clay and humus content.
The condition in which all the pore spaces in a soil are filled with water, so that oxygen is excluded and anaerobic conditions develop.
A view that natural capital can be replaced by manufactured or human capital, so development is sustainable if total capital does not fall; shown as three equal overlapping pillars.
The state of the atmosphere at a particular place and time, or over a short period, described by temperature, humidity, air pressure, wind speed and precipitation.
The breakdown of rock in place into smaller particles and dissolved ions by physical, chemical and biological processes, without the material being moved away.
An area of land that is saturated or covered with shallow water for all or part of the year, such as a marsh, swamp or floodplain, which stores and filters water.
The hunting of whales for meat, oil, blubber and other products, whether commercially, for scientific permits or for the subsistence of Indigenous communities.
A graph that plots mean annual precipitation against mean annual temperature and shows which terrestrial biome is likely to develop under each combination of the two.
A strip or chain of habitat that links separate habitat patches or reserves, allowing animals and plants to move, disperse and interbreed between them.
The minimum amount of compensation a person states they would accept for the loss or destruction of an environmental good.
The maximum amount a person states they would pay to obtain or protect an environmental good, used to estimate values that have no market price.
Electricity generated by turbines whose blades are turned by the kinetic energy of moving air, either on land or offshore.
A traditional tower on a building that catches wind and directs it down into the rooms while letting warm air escape, ventilating and cooling the building without electricity.
A row of trees, shrubs or a hedge planted to reduce wind speed near the ground, protecting soil from wind erosion and crops from damage.
A lens shared by a group of people through which they perceive, make sense of and act within their environment, shaped by culture, philosophy, ideology, religion and politics.