Climate Change SPD

Glossary^[1]

Carbon dioxide (CO₂)
A gas in Earth's atmosphere. It occurs naturally and is also a by-product of human activity such as burning fossil fuels and land-use change. It is the principal anthropogenic greenhouse gas.

Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e)
CO₂e (carbon dioxide equivalent) is the metric measure used to compare the emissions from various greenhouse gases on the basis of their global-warming potential (GWP).

Climate
Average weather and its variability over a period of time, ranging from months to millions of years. The World Meteorological Organization standard is a 30-year average.

Climate change
A change in the climate's mean and variability for an extended period of decades, or more.

Fossil fuels
Biomass lain down in the Earth millions of years ago, such as coal, oil, and natural gas, which when burnt produce carbon dioxide.

Global warming
A rise in the Earth's temperature, often used with respect to the observed increase since the early 20th century.

Greenhouse gases
Gases in the atmosphere, which absorb thermal infra-red radiation emitted by the Earth's surface, the atmosphere and clouds e.g. water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.

SuDS management train, or treatment train
The management train concept promotes division of the area to be drained into sub-catchments with different drainage characteristics and land uses, each with its own drainage strategy. Dealing with the water locally not only reduces the quantity that has to be managed at any one point, but also reduces the need for conveying the water off the site. The management train starts with preventing run-off.