Originally published by our Content Partner: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (other articles)

Acronyms

Misc.

• [CO₂] Concentration of carbon dioxide

A

• AAO - Antarctic Oscillation

• ABM - Agent-based models

• AC - Air-conditioning

• ACIA - Arctic Climate Impact Assessment

• AEJ - African Easterly Jet

• AEZ - Agro-ecological zone

• AGCM - Atmospheric General Circulation Model

• AGO - Australian Greenhouse Office

• AIACC - Assessments of Impacts andAdaptations to Climate Change in Multiple Regions and Sectors

• AIDS - Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

• AO - Arctic Oscillation

• AOGCM - Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Models

• APF - Adaptation Policy Framework

• AR4 - Fourth Assessment Report

• Aus - Australia

• AVHRR - Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer

B

• BAU - Business-as-usual scenario

• BSATs - Brazilian semi-arid tropics

C

• CAA - Canadian Arctic archipelago

• CAPRADE - ComitéAndino para la Prevención y Atención de Desastres (Andean Committee for Disaster Prevention andAssistance)

• CBA - Cost-benefit analysis

• CBD - Convention on Biological Diversity

• CC - Climate change

• CCAMLR - Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources

• CCD - (United Nations) Convention to Combat Desertification

• CCIAV - Climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability

• CCN - Cloud condensation nuclei

• CDF - Conditional damage function

• CDM - Clean Development Mechanism

• CEE - Central and Eastern Europe

• CFP - Common Fisheries Policy

• CGE - Computable general equilibrium (model)

• CIESIN - Center for International Earth Science Information Network

• CITES - Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna

• CMAQ - Community multiscale air quality (model)

• COP - Conference of the Parties (to the UNFCCC)

• CPPS - Comisión Permanente del Pacífico Sur (Permanent Commission of the South Pacific)

• CRID - Centro Regional de Información sobre Desastres (Regional Disaster Information Centre – LatinAmerica and the Caribbean) 

• CSIRO - Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

D

• DAC - Development Assistance Committee

• DAI - Dangerous anthropogenic interference

• DALY - Disability adjusted life year

• DDC - Data Distribution Centre (of the IPCC)

• Defra - Department for Environment, Food and RuralAffairs (of the UK Government)

• DGVM - Dynamic global vegetation model

• DIC - Dissolved inorganic carbon

• DJF - December, January, February

• DMS - Dimethyl sulphide

• DOC - Dissolved organic carbon

• DPSIR - Drivers-pressures-state-impacts-response

• DWC - Dialogue onWater and Climate

E

• ECCP - European Climate Change Programme

• ECLAC - Economic Commission for LatinAmerica and the Caribbean

• EF - Ecological footprint

• EIA - Environmental Impact Assessment

• EMIC - Earth-system model of intermediate complexity

• ENSO - El Niño-Southern Oscillation

• EPA - Environmental Protection Agency

• EPOC - Environment Policy Committee

• EPPA  - Anthropogenic emission prediction and policy analysis

• EPPA-HHL - The EPPA high-emissions scenario

• EPPA-LLH - The EPPA low-emissions scenario

• ET - Evapotranspiration

• EU - European Union

• EU15 - The 15 countries in the European Union before the expansion on 1 May 2004

• EU25 - The 25 countries in the European Union after the expansion on 1 May 2004, but prior to 1 January 2007

• EWS - Early-warning systems

F

• FACE - Free-air carbon dioxide enrichment

• FAO - Food andAgriculture Organization

• FFF - Food, fibre and forestry

• FFFF - Food, fibre, forestry and fishery

G

• GBR - Great Barrier Reef

• GCM - General Circulation Model

• GDP - Gross domestic product

• GEF - Global Environment Facility

• GEOSS - Global Earth Observation System of Systems

• GHG - Greenhouse gas(es)

• GIMMS - Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies

• GIS - Geographic information system

• GISS - Goddard Institute for Space Studies

• GLOF - Glacial lake outburst flood

• GMAT - Global mean annual temperature

• GMT - Global mean temperature

• GNP - Gross national product

• GPP - Gross primary production

• GPS - Global Positioning System

• GWP - GlobalWater Partnership

H

• HABs - Harmful algal blooms

• HANPP - Human appropriation of net primary productivity

• HIV - Human immunodeficiency virus

• HPS - Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome

• HYV - High-yield varieties

I

• IAM - Integrated assessment model

• IAS - Invasive alien species

• ICLIPS - IntegratedAssessment of Climate Protection Strategies

• ICM - Integrated coastal management

• ICZM - Integrated coastal zone management

• IFRCRC - International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

• IGBP - International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme

• IHDP - International Human Dimensions Programme

• IIASA - International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis

• INAP - Integrated National Pilot Adaptation Plan

• IOCARIBE-GOOS - Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Regional Sub-Commission for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions Global Ocean Observing System

• IOD - Indian Ocean Dipole

• IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

• IPO -- Inter-decadal Pacific Oscillation

• IRRI - International Rice Research Institute

• ITCZ - Intertropical Convergence Zone

• ITTO - International Tropical Timber Organization

• IUCN - International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (World Conservation Union)

J

• JFM - January, February, March

• JJA - June, July,August

L

• LA - Latin America

• LAI - Leaf-area index

• LBA - Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere (experiment)

• LDC - Less/Least Developed Countries

• LGA - Local government authority (Chapter 11)

• LGM - Last Glacial Maximum

• LGP - Length of growing period

• LIA - Little IceAge

• LPJ - Lund-Potsdam-Jena (model)

• LULUCF - Land use, land-use change and forestry

M

• M&E - Monitoring and evaluation

• MA - Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

• MACC - Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change in the Caribbean

• MAMJ - March, April, May, June

• MARA/ARMA - Mapping Malaria Risk inAfrica/Atlas du Risque de la Malaria enAfrique

• MASL - Metres above sea level

• MDB - Murray-Darling Basin

• MDGs - Millennium Development Goals

• MEA - Multilateral environmental agreement

• MER - Market exchange rates

• MJO - Madden-Julian Oscillation

• MOC - Meridional overturning circulation

• MTE - Mediterranean-type ecosystems

N

• NAH - North Atlantic Sub-tropical High

• NAO - North Atlantic Oscillation

• NAPA - National Adaptation Programme of Action

• NBP - Net biome productivity

• NC - National Communication

• NCAR PCM - National Center for Atmospheric Research Parallel Climate Model

• NDVI - Normalised Difference Vegetation Index

• NEP - Net ecosystem productivity

• NEPAD - New Partnership for Africa’s Development

• NGO - Non-governmental organisation

• NHT - Northern Hemisphere temperature

• NPP - Net primary productivity

• NSW - New South Wales

• NT - Northern Territory

• NTFP - Non-timber forest products

• NWMP - National Water Management Plan

• NZ - New Zealand

O

• ODA - Official Development Assistance

• OECD - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

• OND - October, November, December

P

• PAHO - Pan-American Health Organization

• PAL - Pathfinder AVHRR Land

• PDF - Probability density function

• PDI - Power dissipation index

• PDO - Pacific Decadal Oscillation

• PDSI - Palmer Drought Severity Index

• P-E - Precipitation-evaporation

• PEAC - Pacific ENSO Applications Center

• PFT - Plant functional types

• PIA - Participatory integrated assessment

• PI-GCOS - Pacific Islands Global Climate Observing System

• P-IND - Pre-industrial

• PM - Particulate matter

• ppb - Parts per billion

• ppm - Parts per million

• PPP - Purchasing power parity

• PRA - Participatory rural appraisal

Q

• Qld - Queensland

R

• RCM - Regional Climate Model

• RRA - Rapid rural appraisal

• RSLR - Relative sea-level rise

S

• SACZ - South Atlantic Convergence Zone

• SAP - Structural adjustment programme

• SAS - Storyline and simulation

• SBW - Spruce bud worm

• SCAPE - Soft Cliff and Platform Erosion (model)

• SD - Statistical downscaling

• SDSM - Statistical downscaling model

• SEAFRAME - Sea-level fine resolution acoustic measuring equipment

• SIDS - Small Island Developing States

• SLR - Sea-level rise

• SM - Supplementary material

• SoCAB - South CoastAir Basin (California)

• SON - September, October, November

• SPCZ - South Pacific Convergence Zone

• SRES - Special Report on Emissions Scenarios

• SST - Sea surface temperature

• SWE - Snow water equivalent

T

• TAR - Third Assessment Report (of the IPCC)

• TBE - Tick-borne encephalitis

• TEJ - Tropical Easterly Jet

• TEK - Traditional ecological knowledge

• TGICA - Task Group on Data and Scenario Support for Impact and ClimateAnalysis

• THC - Thermohaline circulation

• TOGA - Tropical Ocean-GlobalAtmosphere

• TOPEX - Ocean Topography Experiment

• TWA - Tolerable windows approach

U

• UHI - Urban heat-island

• UK - United Kingdom

• UKCIP - United Kingdom Climate Impacts Programme

• UNDP - United Nations Development Programme

• UNFCCC - United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

• US - United States (ofAmerica)

• USEPA  - United States Environmental Protection Agency

• UVR - Ultraviolet radiation

V

• VBD - Vector-borne disease

• VOC - Volatile organic compound

W

• WA - Western Australia

• WAIS - West Antarctic ice sheet

• WAMU - West African Monetary Union

• WBD - Water-borne disease

• WCRP - World Climate Research Programme

• WE - Western Europe

• WG - Working Group (of the IPCC)

• WHO - World Health Organization

• WMO - World Meteorological Organization

• WNV - West Nile virus

• WTO - World Trade Organization

• WWW - World Weather Watch