#KnowYourConcept —A Lexicon Series

This is an initiative of The Sangyan to disseminate jargon and create awareness about the same pertaining to climate change, disability, environment, et al.

#KnowYourConcepts — A Lexicon Series Template

1. Climate change — refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. These shifts may be natural, such as through variations in the solar cycle. But since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas. Source.
2. Heatwave — Qualitatively, the heat wave is a condition of air temperature which becomes fatal to the human body when exposed. Quantitatively, it is defined based on the temperature thresholds over a region in terms of actual temperature or its departure from normal. In certain countries, it is defined in terms of the heat index based on temperature and humidity or based on the extreme percentile of the temperatures. Source.
3. Eco-Ableism — defined as a form of discrimination toward individuals with disabilities through an ecological and environmental lens. Source.
4. Environmental Migration — Migration of populations as a result of failing ecosystems, vulnerability to natural hazards, and gradual climate-driven environmental changes causing poverty and hunger. Source.
5. Sustainable Development — meeting ‘the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’. Source.
6. Disaster Risk Reduction — the concept and practice of reducing disaster risks through systematic efforts to analyse and reduce the causal factors of disasters. Source.
7. October Heat — Phenomenon caused during the period of transition from hot rainy season to dry winter conditions because of the movement of the sun toward the south in October results in high temperature & humidity, resulting in oppressive weather during daytime. Source.
8. Geodiversity — Geological diversity refers to the natural portion of the planet that is not alive, both at the surface & in the planet’s interior. It means the Earth’s minerals, rocks, fossils, soils, sediments, landforms, topography, and hydrological features such as lakes and rivers. The term ‘geodiversity’ also spans the processes that create and modify these features. Source.
9. Protected Area — A clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated, & managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services & cultural values. Source.
10. Mental Health — State of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community. Source.
11. Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction (DIDRR) — making sure the needs and voices of people with disabilities are included at every level and stage in disaster risk management. As they are disproportionately affected in disaster, emergency, and conflict situations due to inaccessible evacuation, response (including shelters, camps, and food distribution), and recovery efforts. Source.
12. Climate Justice — a concept that addresses the just division, fair sharing, and equitable distribution of the benefits and burdens of climate change and responsibilities to deal with climate change. The concept of Climate Justice emerges from the idea that historical responsibility for climate change lies with the developed countries and yet it disproportionately impacts the poorest and most vulnerable. [Carbon Brief] Climate Justice frames global warming as an ethical & political issue, rather than purely an environmental or physical in nature by relating the impacts of climate change to concepts of justice, equality, human rights, collective rights, & historical responsibilities. [UNEP LEAP] CDC defines climate justice as: All people — regardless of race, color, national origin, or income — are entitled to equal protection from environmental and health hazards caused by climate change and equal access to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. Source.
13. Sustainability — the process of living within the limits of available physical, natural and social resources in ways that allow the living systems in which humans are embedded to thrive in perpetuity. [Working definition by Academic Advisory Committee at the University of Alberta] Sustainability is “to create and maintain conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations.” [US EPA] Source.
14. Conference of the Parties (COP) — The COP is the supreme decision-making body of the Convention. All States that are Parties to the Convention are represented at the COP, at which they review the implementation of the Convention and any other legal instruments that the COP adopts and take decisions necessary to promote the effective implementation of the Convention, including institutional and administrative arrangements. On climate, the “Conference of the Parties”(COP), is the supreme decision-making body of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Source.
15. Climate Action — “means stepped-up efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-induced impacts, including: climate-related hazards in all countries; integrating climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning; and improving education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity with respect to climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.” Source.
16. Threat Multiplier — an “accelerant of instability” which essentially means that has the potential to exacerbate other drivers of insecurity. This includes factors such as water, food, & energy insecurity. Source.
17. Universal Health Coverage (UHC) — means that all people have access to the full range of quality health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship. It covers the full continuum of essential health services, from health promotion to prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and palliative care. Source.
18. Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) — One DALY represents the loss of the equivalent of one year of full health. DALYs for a disease or health condition are the sum of the years of life lost to due to premature mortality (YLLs) and the years lived with a disability (YLDs) due to prevalent cases of the disease or health condition in a population. Source.
19. Cold Wave — Qualitatively, cold wave is a condition of air temperature which becomes fatal to human body when exposed. Quantitatively, it is defined based on the temperature thresholds over a region in terms of actual temperature or its departure from normal. As per the India Meteorological Department’s criteria, Cold Wave and Cold Day conditions are defined as: A. Conditions for Cold Wave: When minimum temperature of a station is 10°C or less for plains and 0°C or less for Hilly regions and fulfils any of the following criteria:
    I) Based on Departure of Minimum Temperatures from Normal
    Cold Wave: When the Departure is -4.5°C to -6.4°C
    Severe Cold Wave: When the Departure is > -6.4°C
    II) Based on Actual Minimum Temperature (For plain stations only)
    Cold Wave: When minimum temperature is < 4°C
    Severe Cold Wave: When minimum temperature is < 2°C
    III) For coastal stations: When the Departure of Minimum Temperature is -4.5°C or less and Minimum Temperature is 15°C or less. B. Conditions for Cold Day: When minimum temperature is 10°C or less for plains and 0°C or less for Hilly regions and fulfils following criteria: Cold day: Maximum Temperature Departure is -4.5°C to -6.4°C and Severe Cold Day: Maximum Temperature Departure is < -6.4°C. Source.
20. Climate Anxiety — a ‘heightened emotional, mental or somatic distress in response to dangerous changes in the climate system’, but suggests that ‘paying heed to what is happening… is a healthier response than turning away in denial or disavowal’. Climate anxiety can lead to symptoms such as panic attacks, loss of appetite, irritability, weakness and sleeplessness. Source.
21. Rare Diseases — A rare disease is a health condition of low prevalence that affects a small number of people compared with other prevalent diseases in the general population. It is estimated that globally around 6000 to 8000 rare diseases exist with new rare diseases being reported in the medical literature regularly. It is with new rare diseases However, 80% of all rare disease patients are affected by approximately 350 rare diseases. Paradoxically, though rare diseases are of low prevalence and individually rare, collectively they affect a considerable proportion of the population in any country, which according to generally accepted international research is — between 6% and 8%. Rare diseases include genetic diseases, rare cancers, infectious tropical diseases and degenerative diseases. 80% of rare diseases are genetic in origin and hence disproportionately impact children. There is no universally accepted definition of a rare disease. Different countries define rare diseases differently. However, the common considerations in the definitions are primarily, disease prevalence and to varying extent — severity and existence of alternative therapeutic options. India must arrive at its own definition suited to its need, based on a careful consideration of prevalence, disease severity and study-ability. Source.
22. Early Warning System — An integrated system of hazard monitoring, forecasting and prediction, disaster risk assessment, communication and preparedness activities systems and processes that enables individuals, communities, governments, businesses and others to take timely action to reduce disaster risks in advance of hazardous events. Source.
23. Climate Refugee — the term is not endorsed by UNHCR, and thus, it is more accurate to refer to “persons displaced in the context of disasters and climate change.” Climate refugees are people who must leave their homes and communities because of the effects of climate change and global warming like Sea-Level Rise, Drought, etc. Climate refugees belong to a larger group of immigrants known as environmental refugees. Source.
24. Thunderstorm Asthma — The term describes an attack of asthma that starts or worsens after a thunderstorm. It can occur in anyone with asthma, but it most often affects people with seasonal allergic rhinitis, which many people know as hay fever or allergies. Heralded by a runny nose, sneezing, and itchy eyes, seasonal allergies are often worst in the spring, summer, or early fall. Source.
25. Climate Finance — refers to local, national or transnational financing — drawn from public, private and alternative sources of financing — that seeks to support mitigation and adaptation actions that will address climate change. ‘Climate finance’ is a multifaceted concept. It generally refers to finance for activities aiming to mitigate or adapt to the impacts of climate change. However, it is sometimes conflated with the related and overlapping concepts of green finance, sustainable finance, and low-carbon finance. Source.
26. Climate Resilience — the ability to anticipate, prepare for, and respond to hazardous events, trends, or disturbances related to climate. Improving climate resilience involves assessing how climate change will create new, or alter current, climate-related risks, and taking steps to better cope with these risks. Resilience to climate change is defined as the capacity to prepare for, respond to, and recover from the impacts of hazardous climatic events while incurring minimal damage to societal wellbeing, the economy and the environment. Climate resilience is often associated with acute events — like heat waves, heavy downpours, hurricanes, or wildfires — that will become more frequent or intense as the climate changes. However, good resilience planning also accounts for chronic events like rising sea levels, worsening air quality, and population migration. Source.
27. Adaptation — refers to adjustments in ecological, social or economic systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli and their effects. It refers to changes in processes, practices and structures to moderate potential damages or to benefit from opportunities associated with climate change. In simple terms, countries and communities need to develop adaptation solutions and implement actions to respond to current and future climate change impacts. Adaptation actions can take on many forms, depending on the unique context of a community, business, organization, country or region. There is no ‘one-size-fits-all-solution’ — adaptation can range from building flood defences, setting up early warning systems for cyclones, switching to drought-resistant crops, to redesigning communication systems, business operations and government policies. Source.
28. Earth Overshoot Day — the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year. We maintain this deficit by liquidating stocks of ecological resources and accumulating waste, primarily carbon dioxide, in the atmosphere. Earth Overshoot Day is hosted and calculated by Global Footprint Network. This international research organization provides decision-makers with a menu of tools to help the human economy operate within Earth’s ecological limits. To determine the date of Earth Overshoot Day for each year, Global Footprint Network calculates the number of days of that year that Earth’s biocapacity suffices to provide for humanity’s Ecological Footprint. The remainder of the year corresponds to a global overshoot. Earth Overshoot Day is computed by dividing the planet’s biocapacity (the amount of ecological resources Earth can generate that year) by humanity’s Ecological Footprint (humanity’s demand for that year), and multiplying by 365, the number of days in a year: (Earth’s Biocapacity / Humanity’s Ecological Footprint) x 365 = Earth Overshoot Day). Source.
29. Virtual Water — also called “embedded water” or “indirect water,” is the water “hidden” in the products, services and processes people buy and use every day. Although virtual water goes unseen by the end-user of a product or service, that water has been consumed throughout the value chain, which makes the creation of that product or service possible. The virtual water concept was first conceived as a way to understand how water-stressed countries could provide their people with adequate supplies of food, clothing and other water-intensive items. However, because many goods and services are now exchanged through global trade, water-scarce countries rely more and more on the water resources of other countries to supply their consumer product needs. Accordingly, a country with limited water resources often imports water-intensive goods like cotton textiles rather than have local growers cultivate cotton crops at great cost to their local water conditions. There are overlaps between virtual water and water footprints, but they are not equivalent. Source.
30. Virtual Water Trade — Virtual water trade (VWT) refers to the exchanges of virtual water (“embedded water”, that is, the water “hidden” in the products, services and processes people buy and use every day) between different regions, via the exchange of physical goods (e.g. food commodities, textiles, electronic goods, etc.) that have required water for their production. Virtual water trade is an instrument to achieve water security and efficient water use by linking consumption patterns and the impacts on water. Trade of real water between water-rich and water-poor regions is generally impossible due to the large distances and associated costs, but trade in water-intensive products (virtual water trade) is realistic. For water-scarce countries, it could be attractive to achieve water security by importing water-intensive products instead of producing all water-demanding products domestically. Reversibly, water-rich countries could profit from their abundance of water resources by producing water-intensive products for export. Source.
31. Global Warming — the estimated increase in global mean surface temperature (GMST) averaged over a 30-year period, or the 30-year period centered on a particular year or decade, expressed relative to pre-industrial levels unless otherwise specified. Global warming describes the current rise in the average temperature of Earth’s air and oceans. It is the long-term warming of the planet’s overall temperature. Though this warming trend has been going on for a long time, its pace has significantly increased in the last hundred years due to human activities like the burning of fossil fuels. It is often described as the most recent example of climate change. Source.
32. Tipping Point — a threshold after which certain changes caused by global warming and climate change become irreversible, even if future interventions are successful in driving down average global temperatures. These changes may lead to abrupt and dangerous impacts with serious implications for humanity and our planet’s future. As the world gets hotter, several tipping points are becoming very likely. One of them is the collapse of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, which would lead to significant sea level rise and threaten coastal communities and ecosystems. Another is the thawing of the permafrost in the tundra regions, which will release huge quantities of trapped greenhouse gases, further accelerating global warming and climate change. Mass coral bleaching events and the destruction of rainforests are two other major tipping points with immense implications for biodiversity and human societies. Source.
33. Climate vulnerability — describes the degree to which natural, built, and human systems are at risk of exposure to climate change impacts. Vulnerable communities experience heightened risk and increased sensitivity to climate change and have less capacity and fewer resources to cope with, adapt to, or recover from climate impacts. These disproportionate effects are caused by physical (built and environmental), social, political, and/ or economic factor(s), which are exacerbated by climate impacts. These factors include, but are not limited to, race, class, sexual orientation and identification, national origin, and income inequality. An individual or community may be vulnerable with respect to multiple factors at once, the cumulative effects of which may contribute to heightened vulnerability. Vulnerable communities include children, women, old adults, persons with disabilities, migrant labourers, transgender persons, small farmers, minorities, etc. This is an illustrative list and not an exhaustive one. Source.
34. Boiling Frog Syndrome — a metaphoric account of a frog being placed in a tub of water that is slowly heated. However, the frog will not notice the temperature difference until it is slowly boiled to death. The boiling frog is an apologue describing a frog being slowly boiled alive. The premise is that if a frog is put suddenly into boiling water, it will jump out, but if the frog is put in tepid water, which is then brought to a boil slowly, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death. The story is often used as a metaphor for the inability or unwillingness of people to react to or be aware of sinister threats that arise gradually rather than suddenly. The case in point is climate change. Source.
35. Shifting baseline syndrome (SBS) — a psychological and sociological phenomenon whereby each new human generation accepts as natural or normal the situation in which it was raised. That describes a gradual change in the accepted norms for the condition of the natural environment due to a lack of human experience, memory and/or knowledge of its past condition. Consequences of SBS include an increased tolerance for progressive environmental degradation, changes in people’s expectations as to what is a desirable (worth protecting) state of the natural environment, and the establishment and use of inappropriate baselines for nature conservation, restoration and management. SBS describes a persistent downgrading of perceived ‘normal’ environmental conditions with every sequential generation, leading to under-estimation of the true magnitude of long-term environmental change on a global scale. The global climate has been warming for several decades, yet we have been slow to react. This is largely due to the fact that individuals rarely witness changes in weather patterns, or the broader consequences of our actions as a species for themselves. This phenomenon was dubbed the shifting baselines syndrome, and is an important factor in our inability to deal with climate change. Source.
36. Geographic Information System (GIS) — a system that creates, manages, analyzes, and maps all types of data. GIS connects data to a map, integrating location data (where things are) with all types of descriptive information (what things are like there). This provides a foundation for mapping and analysis that is used in science and almost every sector. GIS helps to understand patterns, relationships, and geographic context, and its benefits include improved communication and efficiency as well as better management and decision-making. GIS technology applies geographic science with tools for understanding and collaboration. It helps people reach a common goal: to gain actionable intelligence from all types of data in order to Identify problems, Monitor change, Manage and respond to events, Perform forecasting, Set priorities, and Understand trends. Climate change creates complex, interrelated, and inherently geographic challenges, especially for vulnerable communities, including children, women, old adults and persons with disabilities, given their heightened vulnerability because of greater exposure, higher sensitivity and lower ability to adapt and mitigate climate change impacts. GIS uses location as a common thread, and thus, GIS technology is uniquely suited to create clarity from myriad data sources and illuminate climate-related risks, opportunities, and sustainable solutions by ensuring participation, sharing, and collaboration that leave no one behind by strengthening relationships, driving efficiencies, and opening communications channels within the community. GIS is essential to create insight that drives positive action by understanding and preparing for a future requiring more resilient communities, systems, and infrastructure. Bhuvan (means Earth in Sanskrit) is an Indian Geoportal platform of ISRO. Source.

Prepared by

Abhishek Kumar, NCPEDP-Javed Abidi Fellow on Disability

Curator, The Sangyan — #KnowYourConcept!

The author can be reached at abhishek.ncpedp@gmail.com

Know Your Concept!