51 of the Geography glossary’s terms, each with the part of the syllabus where you first meet it.
A steep-sided, flat-floored dry valley in a desert, cut mainly by flash floods, that carries water only briefly after heavy rain.
The east–west loop of air over the equatorial Pacific, rising over the warm west, flowing east aloft, sinking over the cool east and returning west as the trade winds.
An ocean current warmer than the surrounding water and air, usually flowing from low latitudes towards the poles on the western side of an ocean basin.
A glacier whose base is at the pressure melting point, so a film of meltwater lets it slide over its bed; it moves relatively fast and erodes strongly.
A ranking of waste management options in order of environmental preference: prevention, reuse, recycling, recovery (such as energy from waste) and, last, disposal.
The treatment of used water from homes and industry so that it can be used again for irrigation, industry or, after advanced treatment, drinking.
Low weight for height in a child, more than two standard deviations below the median of the WHO Child Growth Standards; an indicator of acute undernutrition or recent weight loss.
An organisation that monitors governments, companies or other institutions and publicly reports failures to meet laws, standards or promises, so that they can be held to account.
The process of sharing the available water in a basin between users, sectors and the environment, usually through licences, entitlements or caps.
An equation that accounts for all water entering and leaving a drainage basin over a period: precipitation equals discharge plus evapotranspiration plus or minus the change in storage.
A dispute between countries, regions or groups over the allocation, quality or management of a shared water resource, ranging from diplomatic tension to violence.
Obtaining the same output or service, such as a crop or a product, with less water by reducing losses and waste.
The total volume of fresh water used directly and indirectly to produce the goods and services consumed by a person, community, business or country.
The charges set for water supply and sanitation, which can recover costs, encourage saving and, through lifeline tariffs, protect access for low-income users.
The chemical, physical and biological characteristics of water that determine whether it is safe and suitable for a particular use, such as drinking, irrigation or supporting ecosystems.
The amount of water available in a place over a period of time, measured as a volume or a flow.
A situation in which the available supply of freshwater of acceptable quality is not enough to meet all demands in an area, including the needs of ecosystems.
The capacity of a population to maintain sustainable access to enough water of acceptable quality for livelihoods, health and development, while being protected from water-borne pollution and water-related disasters.
A public square built below the level of surrounding streets that is used for recreation in dry weather and temporarily stores stormwater during heavy rain, releasing it slowly.
A condition in which demand for water approaches or exceeds the renewable supply, causing periodic shortages; often defined as less than 1,700 m³ per person per year.
The upper surface of the saturated zone in rock or soil, below which all pore spaces are filled with water; its height rises after recharge and falls in dry periods.
A formal agreement between two or more states that sets out how a shared water resource will be allocated, used or managed, and how disputes will be settled.
The volume of fresh water taken from rivers, lakes or aquifers for use in agriculture, industry or homes, part of which may later be returned.
A disease caused by pathogens transmitted through water contaminated with human or animal faeces, usually by drinking it or preparing food with it, such as cholera and typhoid.
The interdependence of water, food and energy systems, in which producing, moving or using one resource requires or affects the others, creating trade-offs and synergies.
A sudden vertical drop in the long profile of a river, often where a band of resistant rock lies over less resistant rock that is eroded more quickly.
The saturation of soil with water, usually because the water table has risen close to the surface, which starves plant roots of air.
The boundary of a drainage basin, usually a line of high ground, that separates water flowing into one river system from water flowing into a neighbouring one; also called a divide.
The bending of wave crests as they slow in shallow water near the coast, which concentrates wave energy on headlands and spreads it out in bays.
An indentation cut into the base of a cliff between high and low tide by hydraulic action and abrasion.
A gently sloping rocky surface at the base of a cliff, exposed at low tide, left behind as the cliff retreats through erosion and collapse.
The breakdown or decay of rock in its original place by physical, chemical or biological processes, without the rock being moved.
The lowest temperature to which air can be cooled by evaporating water into it; it combines heat and humidity and indicates how well the human body can cool itself by sweating.
An area of land saturated or covered by shallow water, permanently or seasonally, such as a marsh, swamp, bog, floodplain or delta, with soils and vegetation adapted to wet conditions.
The return of a degraded or drained wetland towards its natural condition, for example by blocking drains, restoring water flows or replanting vegetation.
The total length of the bed and banks of a river channel in contact with the water at a cross-section, measured in metres.
The pause on all commercial whaling agreed by the International Whaling Commission in 1982, which took effect in 1986.
An expensive facility, such as a stadium built for a mega-event, that is little used afterwards and costs more to maintain than it earns.
The wearing away of rock surfaces by sand grains carried by the wind, concentrated within about a metre of the ground.
The cooling effect of wind on exposed skin, expressed as the lower air temperature that would cause the same rate of heat loss in calm conditions.
The change in wind speed or direction with height; strong vertical wind shear tears developing tropical cyclones apart, while low shear lets them organise and strengthen.
The period, usually several decades, during which the working-age share of a population is highest and the dependency ratio lowest, so that conditions for a demographic dividend are most favourable.
The Ramsar principle that wetlands should keep their ecological character through sustainable use that benefits people, rather than being strictly preserved without use.
An international body, founded in 1999, that promotes and coordinates the fight against doping in sport and maintains the World Anti-Doping Code.
An international financial institution, founded in 1944 with the IMF, that provides loans, grants and advice to low- and middle-income countries for development projects, aiming to end extreme poverty.
An independent international body (1997–2001) of governments, industry and civil society that reviewed the impacts of large dams and recommended guidelines for fairer dam decisions in 2000.
The United Nations agency, founded in 1961 and based in Rome, that provides emergency food assistance, logistics for humanitarian operations, school meals and resilience programmes for people facing hunger.
The United Nations agency, founded in 1948 and based in Geneva, that directs and coordinates international health work, sets health standards and guidelines, and supports countries in controlling disease.
A cultural or natural site inscribed on a list kept by UNESCO because it is judged to have outstanding universal value, which the state agrees to protect.
The multi-governmental organisation, founded in 1995, that negotiates and enforces the rules of international trade between its member governments and settles their trade disputes.
The UN Population Division’s regular estimates and projections of urban and rural populations and city sizes for every country, the main source of global urbanisation data.