Glossary of Climate Literature(s) and Climate Literacy Terms
The Glossary is our work-in-progress dictionary for terms, concepts, ideas, solutions, technologies, people, places, processes, and other language we use on this website. None of the definitions you find here are definitive, and we offer sources whenever possible. Many terms included here have multiple or conflicting definitions too. The Glossary does not include titles of books and other works discussed in the database.
Click the menu below to quickly navigate to your desired letter.
A
Agroforestry (origin: collective and J. Russel Smith)
Agroforestry is “the intentional integration of forestry with agriculture” (regeneration.org). This means that trees and shrubs are integrated into croplands and farmlands. This strategy is a low-cost way to make agriculture more sustainable, promote biodiversity, and combat climate change. Agroforestry promotes soil health and can be a method of soil conservation and regeneration.
Animal Cruelty
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Anthropocene (origin: Paul Crutzen)
The Anthropocene is the most popular name proposed for the current geological epoch in which human activity has fundamentally and irreversibly altered Earth’s environmental and geological systems, pushing them from the range of natural variability into “a no-analogue state” (134). Coined in 2000 by Nobel-prize winning atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen, the Anthropocene (or, the era of humans) was proposed as a new epoch after the Holocene, a period of stable climate conditions since the end of the last ice age
Anthropocentrism
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
B
Biodiversity (origin: Thomas Lovejoy, Elliott Norse, and E.O. Wilson)
Biodiversity is an umbrella term, originated in conservation science of the 1980s, that refers to “the totality of all inherited variation in the life forms of Earth” (E.O. Wilson), from genes and microbial life, to species, biomes, and ecosystems. The notion of biodiversity was introduced into mainstream conservation discourse in the 1992 UN Convention on Biological Diversity. Since then, the CBD has sponsored periodic reports on biological diversity, which summarize the status of Earth’s biodiversity and actions taken to safeguard it.
Biodiversity Loss
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Birding
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Boardbook
The boardbook is a specific format of children’s literature typically made of thick, laminated cardboard that can withstand the chewing, tossing, and general abuse wrought by its very young readers (ages 0 to 3 or “Sprouts” ). Like similar formats—including pop-up, pull-tab, feelie, sound, panorama and other toy books, as well as the more archaic linen, cloth, and rag books that were among some of the first “indestructible” books for children— boardbooks are intended to be infants’ first introduction to book culture.
C
Carbon Accounting
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Carbon Offsets
Carbon offsets or carbon credits are a neoliberal economic construct meant to utilize the marketplace to incentivize companies to reduce their carbon emissions. A single offset represents one ton of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and these credits are government certified, to be bought and sold between government and industry. These credits encourage companies to seek out lower emissions in the production or distribution of goods.
Climate Adaptation
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Carbon Budget
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Climate Change (origin: collective or Gilbert Plass)
Climate change is a plural notion that refers to the consequences of complex feedback loops linking 1) anthropogenic global warming, 2) other human-driven processes—including biodiversity loss, pollution, desertification, deforestation, species extinction, soil erosion, ocean acidification, the expansion of human populations, resource depletion, etc.—and 3) all living systems of the planet: consequences that manifest in and as a long-term change in Earth’s weather patterns.
Climate Literacy (origin: NOAA)
Climate literacy—sometimes called “climate change literacy”—does not have a widely accepted definition yet. The notion of climate literacy was first used by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) in 2006 as a synonym for “climate science literacy,” i.e. “an understanding of your influence on climate and climate’s influence on you and society.” The concept of climate science literacy received more extensive treatment in NOAA’s 2009 brochure “Climate Literacy: the Essential Principles of Climate Science.”
Coal Mining
Coal is a sedimentary rock made from dead plants and animals that have built up over thousands of years under pressure and heat. Known primarily for its status as a fossil fuel, coal is mainly used as a source of heat and electricity. In contrast to renewable energy sources like sun, wind, and water, coal is a nonrenewable resource that could eventually be depleted. Coal seams have been found on every continent, but the largest coal reserves are in the U.S., Russia, China, Australia, and India.
Coastal Erosion
Check back soon!
Collective Climate Action (origin: collective and Elinor Ostrom)
Collective action refers to action taken by a group of people to achieve a shared goal. In the case of collective climate action, the goal can be mitigation of the effects of climate change, adaptation of systems or infrastructure in anticipation of climate risk, or a deeper transformation of the conditions driving the climate crisis. Oftentimes, collective climate action is conceptualized as a grassroots social movement, composed of citizens working for change at the community scale.
Confined Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO)
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
D
Deep Time (origin: John McPhee)
Deep time is the measurement of Earth’s chronology on the scale of geologic events and epochs. Based on Earth’s 4.54-billion-year history, deep time is almost unimaginably vast – far more so than conceptualizations of time based on the human lifetime. This means that, much like “deep space,” deep time can be a difficult idea to fully grasp.
Deflection (origin: Michael Mann)
As described in Michael Mann’s The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back the Planet (2021), deflection refers to a set of strategies adopted since the early 2000s by Big Oil, Big Ag, Big Banks, and other petronormative institutions whose operations constitute the systemic drivers of climate change (see ecocide) to project the blame for the destruction on individual consumers (see producerism). At a time when it becomes increasingly harder to deny the reality and severity of climate change, deflection is becoming the new climate denial.
Deforestation
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Drawdown (origin: Paul Hawken)
Drawdown describes the goal of reversing global warming and “the future point in time when levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere stop climbing and start to steadily decline. This is the point when we begin the process of stopping further climate change and averting potentially catastrophic warming. It is a critical turning point for life on Earth” (Drawdown framework). Defined as a future goal, Drawdown began in 2001 when American environmentalist, entrepreneur, and author Paul Hawken began asking experts the same question: what do we need to do to arrest and reverse global warming?
E
Eco-anxiety
As defined by the American Psychological Association, eco-anxiety is the “chronic fear of environmental doom.” In 2011, Glenn Albrecht was the first one to report mental health issues driven by pollution, biodiversity loss, and other ecological disasters. Eco-anxiety was one of the psychoterratic syndromes mentioned by the author. According to a recent review, this fear for the future triggers a series of health implications such as depression, hopelessness, stress, insomnia, functional impairment, and reluctance to have children.
Ecocentrism
Ecocide
Ecofiction
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Ecological Civilization (origin: collective or John B. Cobb, Jr.)
An ecological civilization is an umbrella term for the vision of a transformed civilization based on the core principles that sustain living systems in natural ecologies. An ecological civilization would be built on life-affirming values rather than wealth accumulation (see ecocidal civilization, petronormativity, ecocide) and structured to create the conditions for all humans to flourish as part of a thriving, living Earth (see sustainability, Just Transition).
Ecological Overshoot
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Ecosystem Services
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Environmental Justice
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Extinction
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Extractivism
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
G
Gaia (origin: collective and James E. Lovelock & Lynn Margulis)
Gaia, also known as the Gaia Hypothesis, was named after the Greek Goddess of Earth. The Gaia Hypothesis states that Earth is a self-regulating entity which keeps the planet functioning to serve all life that resides on it. Some examples of the Earth as self-regulating are changes in temperature, shifting plates, or even aquatic organisms creating elements that land needs.
Global Warming
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Goldilocks Planet
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Greenhouse Gases
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Greenwashing
According to the United Nations, greenwashing is defined as the practice of “misleading the public to believe that a company or other entity is doing more to protect the environment than it is,” and it can therefore delay or hinder real solutions to the climate crisis. The term was first coined in 1986 by the environmentalist Jay Westerveld, who pointed out the irony when a large resort in the South Pacific encouraged its residents to reuse towels in order to reduce ecological damage, even though the resort was expanding at the expense of its surrounding natural environment.
H
Host Plant Specialization
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
I
Individual Action
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Interconnectedness (origin: collective)
Interconnectedness is a worldview that emphasizes the deep interdependence of everything on Earth. From animals to water to rocks to bacteria, our fates are inextricably intertwined. Interconnectedness understands the world as a set of systems in delicate balance with one another. It is the opposite of the belief that humans are separate from or above nature.
J
Jevons Paradox
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
K
Keeling Curve
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Kiribati
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
L
Land Ethic
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Leopold, Aldo
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Limits to Growth
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Local Food Movement
The local food movement is an umbrella term that encompasses a wide diversity of initiatives, all aimed at encouraging the production and consumption of food on a local level, therefore reducing the distance food travels before reaching consumers. These initiatives could take the form of large-scale market-oriented solutions, where consumers buy food products from local producers and processors. They also include grassroot operations such as farmers’ market, urban farming and community gardening. It is a global movement that has developed independently across different countries around the world.
M
Marine Conservation
Marine conservation is the concern for and protection of species and ecosystems of the oceans and seas. Oceans and seas, as habitats rich in resources that have significant economic value, are vulnerable to human overexploitation, especially in the name of fishing. Marine conservation calls for the protection of these resource rich areas to protect vital resources from irreversible damage, impacting climate on a global scale.
Mitigation
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
N
Nakate, Vanessa
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Nearby Nature
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Neoliberalism
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
O
One Percent
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
P
Planetarianism (origin: Marek Oziewicz)
Planetarianism is an epistemological orientation proposed by Marek Oziewicz as an alternative to the dominant neoliberal discourse that renders Earth as expendable and unsavable. A two-level phenomenon, planetarianism refers to a biocentric commitment to stand up for the planet and our common biospheric legacy in everything we do: how we work, eat, travel, and live. In the realm of language, planetarianism operates as applied hope articulated through stories—a form of hope-as-resistance and a conceptual tool for ushering in the future we want (instead of the future we fear).
Pollution
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Producerism (origin: Rupert Read)
Producerism is a notion proposed by ecological philosopher Rupert Read to describe the core operational principle of capitalism: its fixation of producing more and more stuff for monetary profit (i.e. growth), its need to sell this stuff to consumers (see consumerism), and its foundational lie that consumers—not producers (marketers and distributors)—are the driving force and beneficiaries of the entire process.
Q
Quantum Entanglement
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
R
Recycling
Recycling is the process of collecting, sorting, and processing waste materials and turning them into new products. Recycling is a key component of Sustainable Materials Management (SMM), an approach that aims to promote the sustainable and efficient use of materials throughout their entire lifecycle while minimizing their environmental impact.
Regrowth
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Resilience
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
S
Slow Violence (origin: Rob Nixon)
Slow violence is a term coined by Rob Nixon in Slow Violence and the Environmentalism and of the Poor (Harvard University Press, 2011) to describe the attritional wake of environmental devastation or pollution: its “invisible” and/or “side-effect” forms. In Nixon’s definition, slow violence is “a violence that occurs gradually and out of sight, a violence of delayed destruction that is dispersed across time and space, an attritional violence that is typically not viewed as violence at all” (2). Slow violence refers to domino-effect consequences of environmental devastation, when one element in the ecosystem is damaged or disrupted, leading to long-lasting disruption in other elements or ecosystems.
Solastalgia
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Species Richness
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Speciesism
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Sustainability
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
T
Thunberg, Greta (b. 2003, Swedish climate activist)
Greta Thunberg became known to the world in August 2018 when she started the “school strike for climate” [skolstrejk för klimatet]. At first, her strike was directed towards the Swedish government and the upcoming election, but it soon became a form of activism among young people all around the world, most clearly expressed through the youth-led movement #FridaysForFuture. Thunberg has become an icon for young people’s environmental awareness and activism and has encouraged, supported, and participated in collective initiatives, demonstrations, and protests.
Tipping Points
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Treaty People Gathering (origin: collective)
The Treaty People Gathering was as a coalition-led direct nonviolent action event on June 5-8, 2021 at White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota to protest the construction of Line 3 tar sands pipeline. Attended by over 2000 water protectors from across the country and supported by dozens of organizations, the event was the biggest action yet against Enbridge LN3.
U
Upcycling (origin: Reiner Pilz)
Upcycling is the process of converting waste materials, components, and products into new products of equal or better quality, environmental value, or aesthetic value (Sung, 2017). Unlike recycling, which breaks down existing products to raw materials that are then used to create new products, upcycling involves using waste materials in their current state to make new products.
Urban Environments
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
V
Vegetarianism
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
W
Wilderness
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Y
Youth Climate Activism
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
Z
Zero Waste
This term is not yet available. Please check back again later!
