(Cultural) homogenization

An aspect of cultural globalization, listed as one of its main characteristics, and refers
to the reduction in cultural diversity through the popularization and diffusion of a wide
array of cultural symbols - not only physical objects but customs, ideas and values.

(Raw) materials
Raw materials are materials or substances used in the primary production or
manufacturing of goods. Examples of raw materials include steel, oil, corn, grain,
gasoline, lumber, forest resources, plastic, natural gas, coal, and minerals.

Abrasion
The scrapping, scouring, rubbing and grinding action of materials being carried along
by moving natural features such as rivers, glaciers, waves and strong winds.

Access to safe water

Measured by the percentage of the population having access to and using improved
drinking water sources.

Access to sanitation
The percentage of the population which has access and are using improved
sanitation facilities.

Adaptation
Means anticipating the adverse effects of climate change and taking appropriate
action to prevent or minimise the damage they can cause, or taking advantage of
opportunities that may arise.

Affirmative action
Refers to a set of policies and practices within a government or organization seeking
to include particular groups based on their gender, race, sexuality, creed or nationality
in areas in which they are underrepresented such as education and employment.

Age dependency ratio

The sum of the young population (under age 15) and elderly population (age 65 and
over) relative to the working-age population (ages 15 to 64).

Agribusiness
The business sector encompassing farming and farming-related commercial activities.
It involves all the steps required to send an agricultural good to market, namely
production, processing, and distribution.

Anthropocene
A proposed geological epoch dating from the commencement of significant human
impact on Earth's geology and ecosystems, including, but not limited to,
anthropogenic climate change.

Anti-globalization
A social movement critical of economic globalization.

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Aquifer
A body of rock and/or sediment that holds groundwater.

Arête
The name given to a narrow, knife-edged ridge with steep sides found in glaciated
upland regions. Results from the formation of cirques.

Aridity
Usually expressed as a function of rainfall and temperature. A useful "representation"
is p/ETP where: P = precipitation ETP = potential evapotranspiration taking into
account atmospheric humidity, solar radiation, and wind.

Attrition
The process by which rocks and sediment are worn down and smoothed by the
constant rubbing and grinding against each other during transportation.

Bandwidth
The maximum amount of data transmitted over an internet connection in a given
amount of time.

Belt and Road Initiative

A global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the Chinese government in
2013 to invest in nearly 70 countries and international organizations. "Belt" is short for
the "Silk Road Economic Belt," referring to the proposed overland routes for road and
rail transportation through landlocked Central Asia; whereas "road" is short for the
"21st Century Maritime Silk Road", referring to the Indo-Pacific sea routes through
Southeast Asia to South Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flights

Drone activities that are beyond the visual line of sight of the operator.

Biome
A biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in
response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional
climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader term than
habitat and can comprise a variety of habitats.

Blue water
Fresh surface and groundwater, in other words, the water in freshwater lakes, rivers
and aquifers.

Boserup's theory
Boserup is known for her theory of agricultural intensification, also known as
Boserup's theory, which posits that population change drives the intensity of
agricultural production. Her position countered the Malthusian theory that agricultural
methods determine population via limits on food supply. A major point of her book is
that "necessity is the mother of invention".

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BRICS
The acronym coined to associate five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia,
India, China, and South Africa.

Buttes
A tall, narrow hill with steep sides and a flat top, similar to a mesa but with a smaller
area at the top. It is typically taller than it is wide and often rises abruptly from the
surrounding landscape.

Capital
Refers to the financial resources that businesses can use to fund their operations like
cash, machinery, equipment and other resources. These are the assets that allow the
business to produce a product or service to sell to customers.

Carbon cycle
The series of processes by which carbon compounds are interconverted in the
environment, involving the incorporation of carbon dioxide into living tissue by
photosynthesis and its return to the atmosphere through respiration, the decay of
dead organisms, and the burning of fossil fuels.

Carbon footprint
A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases (including carbon dioxide
and methane) that are generated by our actions.

Censorship
The suppression of speech, public communication, or other information.

Channel bed roughness

The roughness of the channel bed.

Channel modifications
Alteration of a channel by changing the physical dimensions or materials of its bed or
banks. Channel modification includes damming, rip-rapping (or other armoring),
widening, deepening, straightening, relocating, lining and significant removal of native
vegetation from the bottom or banks.

Chemical weathering
Involves the decay and decomposition of rocks in situ. It usually occurs in the
presence of water, which acts as a dilute acid. The rate tends to increase with rising
temperatures and humidity levels.

Chinatown
An ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside mainland China, Hong Kong,
Macau, Singapore or Taiwan, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as
"Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South
America, Asia, Africa and Australasia.

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Circular economy
A model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing,
repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as
possible.

Cirque
This is a semi-circular hollow high up at the head of a glacial valley on the flanks of a
glacial mountain. It was formerly a massive collecting ground for ice that flowed into a
glacial valley below. It has a steep headwall to the rear, a bowl-shaped rock basin in
its centre and a rock lip at its lower end.

Civil society
The aggregate of non-governmental organizations and institutions that manifest
interests and will of citizens.

Climate
The long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years.

Competitive advantage
In business, a competitive advantage is the attribute that allows an organization to
outperform its competitors. A competitive advantage may include access to natural
resources, such as high-grade ores or a low-cost power source, highly skilled labor,
geographic location, high entry barriers, and access to new technology.

Composite index
A mathematical combinations (or aggregations) of a set of indicators.

Consumer item
Consumer goods are products bought for consumption by the average consumer.
Alternatively called final goods, consumer goods are the end result of production and
manufacturing and are what a consumer will see stocked on the store shelf.

Contagious diffusion
Infectious diseases are a prime example. A disease follows no rules, nor does it
recognise borders as it spreads. A forest fire is another example that fits this
category. A kind of expansion diffusion.

Containerization
A system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers (also called
shipping containers). The containers have standardized dimensions. They can be
loaded and unloaded, stacked, transported efficiently over long distances, and
transferred from one mode of transport to another without being opened.

Contemporary
Belonging to or occurring in the present.

Core
A central region in an economy, with good communications and high population
density, which conduce to its prosperity.

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Core and periphery
The concept of a developed core surrounded by an undeveloped periphery. The
concept can be applied at various scales.

Corporate social responsibility

A self-regulatory business model practiced by large and small companies. The
concept allows businesses to be socially accountable to their stakeholders and the
public. By adopting clear CSR strategies, companies accept responsibility for their
impact on society – including all economic, social, and environmental aspects.

Corporation tax
A direct tax imposed on the net income or profit that enterprises make from their
businesses.

Corrasion
An alternative name for abrasion.

Counterfeit goods
Counterfeit goods contain a trademark or logo that is identical to or substantially
indistinguishable from the trademark of another. They mimic the brand features of the
product in an attempt to pass themselves off as a genuine product of the brand
owner.

Creep
The slow downhill movement of soil and other material such as scree (talus). Can be
caused by the expansion and contraction of the soil caused by either seasonal
wetting and drying (especially clays) or seasonal and diurnal freezing and thawing of
the soil surface.

Crop yields
A measurement of the amount of a crop grown, or product such as wool, meat or milk
produced, per unit area of land.

Cross-border flows
Flows of products, services, capital, information and people across political (country)
borders.

Cross-sectional area
The area of a the cross-section of water flowing in a channel.

Crowd-sourcing
Involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or
services - including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances - for payment or as
volunteers. Often involves digital platforms to attract and divide work between
participants to achieve a cumulative result.

Cultural diversity
The quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to monoculture, the global
monoculture, or a homogenization of cultures, akin to cultural evolution.

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Cultural imperialism
The practice of promoting the culture, values or language of one nation in another,
less powerful one.

Cultural trait
A single identifiable material or non-material element within a culture.

Cybersecurity
The art of protecting networks, devices, and data from unauthorized access or
criminal use and the practice of ensuring confidentiality, integrity, and availability of
information.

Daily per capita calorie supply

The total calorie supply available for human consumption divided by the total number
of actual population utilizing it.

Debt relief
The partial or total remission of debts, especially those owed by developing countries
to external creditors.

Deepfake
A blend of "deep learning" and "fake" are synthetic media in which a person in an
existing image or video is replaced with someone else's likeness. While the act of
creating fake content is not new, deepfakes leverage powerful techniques from
machine learning and artificial intelligence to manipulate or generate visual and audio
content that can more easily deceive.

Deforestation
The removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest
use.

Delta
a landform created by deposition of sediment that is carried by a river as the flow
leaves its mouth and enters slower-moving or stagnant water.

Demographic dividend
The accelerated economic growth that may result from a decline in a country’s
birth and death rates and the subsequent change in the age structure of the
population. With fewer births each year, a country’s young dependent population
declines in relation to the working-age population. With fewer people to support, a
country has a window of opportunity for rapid economic growth if the right social and
economic policies are developed and investments made.

Deposition
The process by which sediment or other materials are deposited or settled in a new
location, often as a result of the loss of energy by the agent of transportation.

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Desalination
A process that takes away mineral components from saline water. Saltwater
(especially sea water) is desalinated to produce water suitable for human
consumption or irrigation.

Desertification
Land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various
factors, including climatic variations and human activities. This degradation includes
the temporary or permanent decline in the quality of soil, vegetation, water resources
or wildlife, for example. It also includes the deterioration of the economic productivity
of the land – such as the ability to farm the land for commercial or subsistence
purposes.

Development gap
The widening difference in levels of development between the world's richest and
poorest countries.

Diasporas
A scattered population whose origin lies in a separate geographic locale. Historically,
the word diaspora was used to refer to the mass dispersion of a population from its
indigenous territories. Whilst the word was originally used to describe the forced
displacement of certain peoples, "diasporas" is now generally used to describe those
who identify with a geographic location, but now reside elsewhere.

Differential erosion
Erosion that occurs at irregular or varying rates, caused by the differences in the
resistance and hardness of surface materials: softer and weaker rocks are rapidly
worn away, whereas harder and more resistant rocks remain to form ridges, hills, or
mountains.

Diffusion
The spread of a phenomenon, such as an idea, a technological innovation, or a
disease, over space and time.

Diffusion of innovations
The leading theory in agricultural extension post World War II until the 1970s. It is still
used today in agricultural extension, particularly when extension is concerned with an
adoption of a particular technology. It is proposed that five main elements influence
the spread of a new idea: the innovation itself, adopters, communication channels,
time, and a social system. The categories of adopters are innovators, early adopters,
early majority, late majority, and laggards.

Direct action
Can take many different forms, from occupying buildings or blocking roads, to more
disruptive actions such as property damage or violence. It is often seen as a last
resort by those taking part, when other methods of protest, such as petitions or
letter-writing, have failed.

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Discharge
The volume of flow of water in a channel, measured in cubic metres per second
(cumecs).

Disease burden
The impact of a health problem on a given population, and can be measured using a
variety of indicators such as mortality, morbidity or financial cost. This allows the
burden of disease to be compared between different areas, for example regions,
towns or electoral wards.

Disease continuum
The continuum from diseases of poverty to diseases of affluence.

Diseases of affluence
Those so-called chronic "degenerative" diseases whose incidence has been rising
conspicuously in industrialized societies as incomes have risen, as living standards
have gone up and even as health indices have improved. Examples of diseases of
affluence include mostly chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and other
physical health conditions for which personal lifestyles and societal conditions
associated with economic development are believed to be an important risk factor —
such as type 2 diabetes, asthma, coronary heart disease etc.

Diseases of poverty
Diseases that are more prevalent in low-income populations. They include infectious
diseases, as well as diseases related to malnutrition and poor health behaviour. HIV,
Malaria and Tuberculosis (TB) also known as “the big three― have been
acknowledged as infectious diseases that disproportionately affect developing
countries.

Disposable income
Household disposable income measures the income of households (wages and
salaries, self-employed income, social benefits, etc.), after taking into account the
payment of taxes and social contributions.

Disruptive technological innovations

A disruptive technology is one that displaces an established technology and shakes
up the industry or a ground-breaking product that creates a completely new industry.

Distribution
Spread over an area.

Divergent thinking
The process of creating multiple, unique ideas or solutions to a problem that you are
trying to solve.

Drainage basin
The area of land drained by a river.

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Dredging
Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment.

Drone
An unmanned aircraft or ship that can navigate autonomously, without human control
or beyond line of sight.

Dry cargo
Goods, such as coal, metals, and grain, that are not liquid and are carried in large
quantities by ship.

Dunes
Sand formations found in desert regions that have been shaped by wind over time.
They are typically composed of loose, dry sand and can range in size from small
ripples to large hills that can be several hundred meters high. They are formed
through a process called aeolian transport, in which wind moves sand particles across
the surface of the desert. When the wind encounters an obstacle, such as a rock or
vegetation, the sand is deposited, and over time, this accumulation can build up to
form a dune. Can take on different shapes and forms depending on the direction and
strength of the wind. Barchan dunes, for example, are crescent-shaped dunes that
form when wind blows in a single direction, while longitudinal dunes form parallel to
the prevailing wind direction.

E-passport
A biometric passport is a traditional passport that has an embedded electronic
microprocessor chip which contains biometric information that can be used to
authenticate the identity of the passport holder.

Ecological footprint
The theoretical measurement of the amount of land and water a population requires
to produce the resources it consumes and to absorb its waste under prevailing
technology.

Economic development
The process whereby simple, low-income national economies are transformed into
modern industrial economies.

Economic migrant
A person who leaves their country of origin purely for economic reasons that are not
in any way related to the refugee definition, in order to seek material improvements in
their livelihood.

Economic water scarcity

Where water is available locally but not accessible for human, institutional or financial
capital reasons.

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Ecosystem
Consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact.
These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and
energy flows. Ecosystems are controlled by external and internal factors. External
factors such as climate, parent material which forms the soil and topography, control
the overall structure of an ecosystem but are not themselves influenced by the
ecosystem.

Egypt's breadbasket
The breadbasket of a country or of a region is an area which, because of the richness
of the soil and/or advantageous climate, produces large quantities of wheat or other
grain.

Emerging economies
There is no official definition of an emerging market. The IMF World Economic
Outlook classifies 39 economies as “advanced,― based on such factors as high
per capita income, exports of diversified goods and services, and greater integration
into the global financial system. The following countries are in the emerging market
group, in alphabetical order: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Egypt,
Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland, Russia,
Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.

Emerging world
Emerging markets are typically countries with low to middle per capita income that
have undertaken economic development and reform programs and have begun to
'emerge' as significant players in the global economy.

Empower
Make (someone) stronger and more confident, especially in controlling their life and
claiming their rights.

Energy efficiency ratio

A property of agricultural systems. It is defined as the ratio of energy out to energy in.
The energy out is the energy that the system outputs in the food we eat. The energy
in is the energy that the system consumes in order to produce the food. Different
types of agriculture systems vary widely in energy efficiency, a fact that has important
implications.

Energy grid
An energy grid is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to
consumers. Electrical grids vary in size and can cover whole countries or continents.

Energy pathways
The flows of energy from producer to consumer. Pathways can take the form of oil
pipelines, gas pipelines, electricity power lines and sea routes of tankers.

Energy security
A country's ability to secure all its energy needs.

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Englacial
“Within― the ice.

Environmental push factors

Environmental (relating to the natural world and the impact of human activity on its
condition) factors which initiate and influence the decision to migrate by impelling or
stimulating emigration

Epidemic
An unexpected increase in the number of disease cases in a specific geographical
area.

Epidemiological
The study (scientific, systematic, and data-driven) of the distribution (frequency,
pattern) and determinants (causes, risk factors) of health-related states and events
(not just diseases) in specified populations (neighborhood, school, city, state, country,
global).

Erosion
Involves the removal of weathered material by the action of gravity, water, wind or ice.

Erratic
The name given to a rock which has been transported by a glacier and deposited in
an area of different geology than that of its source.

Evapotranspiration
The sum of evaporation from the land surface plus transpiration from plants.

Expansion diffusion
When innovations spread to new places while staying strong in their original locations.

Fairtrade
A system of certification that aims to ensure a set of standards are met in the
production and supply of a product or ingredient. For farmers and workers, Fairtrade
means workers’ rights, safer working conditions and fairer pay. For shoppers it
means high quality, ethically produced products.

Falling limb
The period of time when the river’s discharge is falling after it has reached Peak
Discharge.

Famine
It can be declared only when certain measures of mortality, malnutrition and hunger
are met. They are: at least 20 per cent of households in an area face extreme food
shortages with a limited ability to cope; acute malnutrition rates exceed 30 per cent;
and the death rate exceeds two persons per day per 10,000 persons.

Fertile
Producing or bearing many crops in great quantities.

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Fertility rate
The total fertility rate in a specific year is defined as the total number of children that
would be born to each woman if she were to live to the end of her child-bearing years
and give birth to children in alignment with the prevailing age-specific fertility rates.
Assuming no net migration and unchanged mortality, a total fertility rate of 2.1
children per woman ensures a broadly stable population.

Fiber optics
The technology used to transmit information as pulses of light through strands of fiber
made of glass or plastic over long distances.

Flash flood
Flooding that begins within 6 hours, and often within 3 hours, of the heavy rainfall (or
other cause). The intensity of the rainfall, the location and distribution of the rainfall,
the land use and topography, vegetation types and growth/density, soil type, and soil
water-content all determine just how quickly the Flash Flooding may occur, and
influence where it may occur.

Flood risk
The measure of vulnerability to flood with consideration to the likelihood of flooding
and the total value of the assets at risk.

Floodplain
A floodplain is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its
channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding
during periods of high discharge. The soils usually consist of clays, silts, sands, and
gravels deposited during floods.

Food acquisition
Refers to the process of obtaining food, either through growing it, raising it, hunting it,
or purchasing it from a market. It involves a combination of activities, including
cultivation, harvesting, storage, transportation, and processing of food to make it safe
and usable for consumption.

Food availability
Food availability in the simplest term is the situation where food is made to exist for
consumption at local levels where local individuals or households can locate their
needed foods without striving. It depicts the production and supply of varieties of
foods.

Food consumption
The amount and dietary composition of food consumed by an individual or population.

food insecurity
A lack of consistent access to enough food for every person in a household to live an
active, healthy life.

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Food security
Exists for a population when all its people, at all times, have access to sufficient, safe
and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and
health life.

Food security index

The index is based on a dynamic benchmarking model constructed from 68
qualitative and quantitative drivers of food security including Political stability risk,
Sufficiency of supply, Proportion of population under the global poverty line and Food
consumption as a share of household expenditure.

food waste
Food that is fit for consumption but consciously discarded at the retail or consumption
phases.

Forced migrant
A person subject to a migratory movement in which an element of coercion exists,
including threats to life and livelihood, whether arising from natural or man-made
causes (e.g. movements of refugees and internally displaced persons as well as
people displaced by natural or environmental disasters, chemical or nuclear disasters,
famine or development projects).

Foreign direct investment

Investment by a company into the structures, equipment or organizations of a foreign
country. It does not include investment in shares of companies of other countries.

Foreign direct investment

Investment by a company into the structures, equipment or organizations of a foreign
country.

Fossil fuel
Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons, primarily coal, fuel oil or natural gas, formed from the
remains of dead plants and animals.

Franchise
A type of license that grants a franchisee access to a franchisor's proprietary business
knowledge, processes, and trademarks, thus allowing the franchisee to sell a product
or service under the franchisor's business name. In exchange for acquiring a
franchise, the franchisee usually pays the franchisor an initial start-up fee and annual
licensing fees.

Freeze-thaw
A mechanical weathering process caused by the alternative or repeated cycles of
freezing and thawing of water in pores, cracks and other openings. The expansion of
water upon freezing (approximately 9% by volume) forces materials apart.

Frequency
The rate at which something occurs over a particular period of time.

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Frost heave
The upfreezing of objects usually associated with the active layer. The predominantly
upward movement of material during freezing caused by the migration of water to the
freezing plane and it's subsequent expansion upon freezing.

Frost shattering
A glacial process that occurs when water enters cracks in rocks and freezes. As the
water freezes, it expands and puts pressure on the rock, causing it to break or
shatter. Over time, this process can break down and erode large rock formations into
smaller pieces, which the glacier can then transport.

G7
The Group of Seven (G7) is an inter-governmental political forum consisting of
Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Gender equality
When people of all genders have equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities.

Gender roles
The role or behaviour considered appropriate to a particular gender as determined by
prevailing cultural norms.

Genetically modified organisms

An animal, plant, or microbe whose DNA has been altered using genetic engineering
techniques.

Geoengineering
The deliberate large-scale intervention in the Earth’s natural systems to
counteract climate change.

Geographical concept
A concept is a classifier that helps to organise thinking. It is a generalised idea about
a class of objects, situations, actions, processes, relationships, qualities or whatever.

Geopolitical
Focuses on political power linked to geographic space. At the level of international
relations, geopolitics is a method of studying foreign policy to understand, explain,
and predict international political behaviour through geographical variables. These
include area studies, climate, topography, demography and natural resources.

Geopolitics
The struggle over the control of geographical entities with an international and global
dimension, and the use of such geographical entities for political advantage.

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Glacial abrasion
A type of glacial erosion that occurs when rocks, sand, and other particles carried by
a glacier act like sandpaper, grinding and scraping against the underlying rock and
soil. This abrasive action wears away and erodes the surface, sculpting and shaping
the landscape. Over time, the repeated grinding and scraping of the glacier can result
in the formation of smooth, polished rock surfaces, and the creation of glacial
landforms such as U-shaped valleys and cirques.

Glacial areas
Areas with and influenced by glaciers.

Glacial deposition
The process by which glaciers drop, lay down or leave behind the sediment, rocks,
and other material that they have transported. This occurs as the ice melts, slows
down, or changes direction, causing the material to be deposited in a variety of
landforms, including moraines and drumlins.

Glacial erosion
Involves the removal and transport of bedrock or sediment by three main processes:
quarrying (also known as plucking), abrasion, and melt water erosion.

Glacial lake
A body of water that is formed by the melting of a glacier. These can form in various
ways, such as by the accumulation of meltwater in depression in the landscape
created by glacial erosion or by the damming of a valley by a glacial moraine. Ribbon
lakes are a type of glacial lake that are long and narrow in shape, and are formed
when a glacier erodes a valley and then melts, leaving a lake in its place.

Glacial till
A type of sediment that is deposited directly by a glacier. It is a mixture of rock
fragments, sand, gravel, and clay, that has been picked up and carried by the ice as it
moves - often deposited in a random and unstratified manner, meaning that the
different sizes and types of sediment are mixed and not sorted by size or type. This
results in a heterogeneous mixture of sediment different from other sediment types,
such as river deposits or beach sand.

Glacial transportation
R to the movement of ice and rock debris from one place to another by glaciers. The
ice in a glacier acts as a conveyor belt, transporting and depositing sediment and
rocks in various landforms and depositional environments.

Glacial troughs
This is a steep-sided, wide and flat-bottomed valley that was previously occupied by a
glacier.

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Glacifluvial material
Sediment that has been transported and deposited by glacial meltwater. This material
can include a range of sediment types, including rock fragments, sand, gravel, and
clay, that have been carried by meltwater streams and deposited in areas such as
outwash plains, river valleys, and deltas. Glacifluvial material is different from glacial
till in that it is sorted by size and type, meaning that larger rock fragments are typically
found at the bottom of the deposit and smaller, finer material is found at the top.

Glacigenetic sediment
A term is used to describe sediment deposited or re-deposited by a glacier. This
sediment can include a wide range of materials, including rock fragments, sand,
gravel, and clay, as well as meltwater deposits like outwash plains. Can be deposited
in a variety of environments, including on the surface of a glacier, at the base of a
glacier, and in areas where glaciers have retreated or melted.

Global connectedness
Refers to the depth and breadth of a country's integration with the rest of the world, as
manifested by its participation in international flows of products and services, capital,
information , and people.

Global Hunger Index

A tool designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at global, regional,
and national levels, reflecting multiple dimensions of hunger over time. Each
country’s GHI score is calculated based on a formula that combines four
indicators that together capture the multidimensional nature of hunger:
Undernourishment, Child stunting, Child wasting and Child mortality.

Global interactions
A two-way and complex process whereby cultural traits and commodities may be
adopted, adapted or resisted by societies. The process is neither inevitable nor
universal.

Global strategy
Refers to the plans an organization has developed to target growth beyond its
borders. Specifically, it aims to increase the sales of goods or services abroad.

Global supply chain

The worldwide system that a business uses to produce products or services.

Globalization
―the growing interdependence of countries worldwide through the increasing
volume and variety of cross-border transactions in goods and services and of
international capital flows, and through the more rapid and widespread diffusion of
technology― [IMF]

Globalization index
The KOF Globalisation Index is one of several measures of globalization. It measures
the economic, social and political dimensions of globalisation.

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Glocalization
A term invented in order to emphasize that the globalization of a product is more likely
to succeed when the product or service is adapted to the specific locality or culture in
which it is marketed.

Gradient
The slope of the river profile (slope angle).

Green water
The precipitation on land that does not run off or recharge the groundwater but is
stored in the soil or temporarily stays on top of the soil or vegetation.

Greenhouse gas
Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere are called greenhouse gases.

Grey water
Refers to domestic wastewater generated in households or office buildings from
streams without fecal contamination, i.e., all streams except for the wastewater from
toilets. Sources of greywater include sinks, showers, baths, washing machines or
dishwashers.

Habitat
Summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an
area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A
species habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ecological niche.

Hacking
Refers to activities that seek to compromise digital devices, such as computers,
smartphones and even entire networks. And while hacking might not always be for
malicious purposes, nowadays most references to hacking, and hackers, characterize
it/them as unlawful activity by cybercriminals—motivated by financial gain, protest
and information gathering (spying).

Harmful algal bloom

Occur when colonies of algae - simple plants that live in the sea and freshwater -
grow out of control and produce toxic or harmful effects on people, fish, shellfish,
marine mammals and birds. The human illnesses caused by HABs, though rare, can
be debilitating or even fatal.

Healthy life expectancy (HALE) at birth

Average number of years that a person can expect to live in "full health" by taking into
account years lived in less than full health due to disease and/or injury.

Hegemony
the political, economic, or military predominance of one state over other states

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Hierarchical diffusion
Follows a chain of command, something you see in business, government, and the
military. The CEO of a company or the leader of a government body generally knows
information before it is disseminated among a wider employee base or the general
public. Fads and trends that start with one community before spreading to the wider
public can also be hierarchical. A kind of expansion diffusion.

High altitude
Areas are often considered "high-altitude" if they reach at least 2,400 meters (8,000
feet) into the atmosphere.

Hot deserts
Have less than 250mm precipitation per year and daytime temperatures that may
approach 50°C. Cover 14.2% of the Earth’s surface, their distribution largely
determined by the global atmospheric circulation.

Household / Family size

A group of persons who make common provision of food, shelter and other essentials
for living, is a fundamental socioeconomic unit in human societies. Family size refers
to the number of persons in the family. Economic family refers to a group of two or
more persons who live in the same dwelling and are related to each other by blood,
marriage, common-law union, adoption or a foster relationship.

Hub port
A port at mainly which concentration and distribution operations are carried out on
cargo the origin and/or destination of which is outside the hinterland of the port. A Hub
port concentrates its resources essentially on ship-to-ship transshipments; local cargo
plays only a minor role. Hub ports are ports that are strategically located along the
major shipping routes where these transshipment operations take place.

Human discomfort
Humans generally feel comfortable between temperatures of 22 °C to 27 °C and a
relative humidity of 40% to 60%.

Human habitation
The use of a structure for living for any period of time for activities such as sleeping,
eating or cooking, or combinations thereof.

Hydration
A chemical weathering process involving water being added to the chemical structure
of a mineral. A consequence of hydration is that the resulting mineral has a greater
volume than the original mineral. The increase in volume applies force to overlying
layers, breaking them into pieces.

Hydraulic radius
The ratio between the area of the cross-section of a river channel and the wetted
perimeter.

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Hydro-diplomacy
A branch of foreign relations that involves the use of diplomatic instruments to make
shared water sources a domain for peace and cooperation rather than for conflict.

Hydrograph
A means of showing the discharge of a river at a given point over a short period of
time.

Hydrosphere
The combined mass of water found on, under, and above the surface of a planet.

Identity theft
Occurs when someone uses another person's personal identifying information, like
their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to
commit fraud or other crimes.

IMF
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international financial institution,
headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries working to foster
global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade,
promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty
around the world.

Imperialism
a policy or ideology of extending the rule over peoples and other countries, for
extending political and economic access, power and control, often through employing
hard power, especially military force, but also soft power

Impermeable
Not permeable.

In vitro meat
Involves injecting muscle tissue from an animal into a cell culture, allowing cells to
“grow― outside the animal’s body. Sometimes referred to as cultured,
synthetic, or cell-cultured meat.

Inaccessibility
Difficult to reach or get to.

Incidental pollution
Pollution caused by oil spills, by the accidental release of radioactive substances, by
the immission in water bodies or in the atmosphere of chemical substances deriving
from industrial activities.

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Indigenous group
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups who are related to the earliest
known inhabitants of a particular geographic region. Peoples are usually described as
"indigenous" when they maintain traditions or other aspects of an early culture that is
associated with a given region. Not all indigenous peoples share this characteristic,
as many have adopted substantial elements of a colonizing culture, such as dress,
religion or language.

Inequality
the unfair situation in society when some people have more opportunities, money, etc.
than other people

Infant mortality rate

The number of infants dying before reaching one year of age, per 1,000 live births in a
given year.

Infertility
This implies a lack of the qualities which enable the soil to provide nutrient elements
and compounds in adequate amounts and in proper balance for the growth of
specified plants.

Influence
the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behaviour of
someone or something, or the effect itself

Infrastructure
Composed of public and private physical structures such as roads, railways, bridges,
tunnels, water supply, sewers, electrical grids, and telecommunications (including
Internet connectivity and broadband access) that support the sustainable functionality
of households and firms.

Inputs
Are the elements that go into a system.

Insolation weathering
A type of physical weathering which involves repeated heating and cooling of rock
over daily cycles, progressively breaking apart the grains of rock. Also known as
thermal stress weathering. It is an important mechanism in deserts, where there is a
large diurnal temperature range, hot in the day and cold at night.

Integrated drainage basin management

An integrated water resources perspective ensures that social, economic,
environmental and technical dimensions are taken into account in the management
and development of water resources.

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Intensive agriculture
A type of agriculture, both of crop plants and of animals, with higher levels of input
and output per unit of agricultural land area. It is characterized by a low fallow ratio,
higher use of inputs such as capital and labour, and higher crop yields per unit land
area.

Internally displaced person

A person or groups of persons who has been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their
homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid
the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalised violence, violations of human
rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an
internationally recognised State border.

International aid
Any form of needed assistance by one country, or multilateral institution, to another.

International flow
A flow that crosses country borders.

International loan
A loan made by a country (or global group such as the IMF) to another country.

International poverty line

A monetary threshold under which an individual is considered to be living in poverty.

International-mindedness
A view of the world in which people see themselves connected to the global
community and assume a sense of responsibility to its members. It is an awareness
of the inter-relatedness of all nations and peoples, and a recognition of the complexity
of these relationships.

Internet freedom
An umbrella term that encompasses digital rights, freedom of information, the right to
Internet access, freedom from Internet censorship, and net neutrality.

Irrigation
Applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops. Irrigation water can
come from groundwater (extracted from springs or by using wells), from surface water
(withdrawn from rivers, lakes or reservoirs) or from non-conventional sources like
treated wastewater, desalinated water, drainage water, or fog collection.

Irrigation canals
An irrigation canal is a hydraulic system whose main objective is to convey water from
a source (dam and river) to different users.

Lag time
The time between Peak Rainfall and Peak Discharge.

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Laminar flow
A horizontal movement of water.

Lateral moraine
A type of glacial moraine that is formed along the sides of a glacier. It is composed of
rock fragments and other debris eroded and transported by the glacier as it moves.
As the glacier moves it pushes the rock fragments and other debris to the sides,
where they accumulate to form ridges of material that run parallel to the glacier.

Levee
Can be naturally occurring ridge structures that form next to the bank of a river, or be
an artificially constructed fill or wall that regulates water levels. A structure that is
usually earthen and that often runs parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain.

Life expectancy at birth

Indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of
mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life.

Limits of cultivation
The extent of the area that can be productively used for agriculture.

Load particle size

The average size of the sediment particles being transported by a river.

Load quantity
The quantity of sediment that can be transported by a stream/river.

Locale
A place where something happens or is set, or that has particular events associated
with it.

Location
Denotes a region (point, line, or area) on Earth’s surface.

Low carbon power

Low-carbon power is electricity produced with substantially lower greenhouse gas
emissions than conventional fossil fuel power generation.

Magnitude
The great size or extent of something.

Malnutrition
Refers to deficiencies or excesses in nutrient intake, imbalance of essential nutrients
or impaired nutrient utilization. The double burden of malnutrition consists of both
undernutrition and overweight and obesity, as well as diet-related noncommunicable
diseases. Undernutrition manifests in four broad forms: wasting, stunting,
underweight, and micronutrient deficiencies.

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Malthusianism
Malthusianism is the idea that population growth is potentially exponential while the
growth of the food supply or other resources is linear, which eventually reduces living
standards to the point of triggering a population die off.

Manufactured goods
A manufactured good is a good that is produced mainly by the application of labour
and capital to raw materials and other intermediate inputs. As such, manufactured
goods are the opposite of primary goods, but include intermediate goods as well as
final goods. They include steel, chemicals, paper, textiles, machinery, clothing,
vehicles, etc.

Manufacturing industries
Industries transforming goods.

Maternal mortality ratio

The number of women who die from pregnancy-related causes while pregnant or
within 42 days of pregnancy termination per 100,000 live births.

Meander
A sinuous bend in a river.

Meander
One of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other
watercourse.

Medial moraine
A type of glacial moraine that is formed when two glaciers meet and merge together.
When two glaciers merge, their lateral moraines are also combined, resulting in a strip
of moraine material that runs down the centre of the combined glacier.

Median age
Median age is the age that divides a population into two numerically equally sized
groups; that is, half the people are younger than this age and half are older. It is a
single index that summarizes the age distribution of a population.

Megacity
An urban area with a population of at least ten million people.

Mesas
A flat-topped, elevated landform with steep sides that is found in arid or semi-arid
regions. It is characterized by a horizontal or gently sloping top that is bounded on all
sides by cliffs or steep slopes.

Microfinance
Microfinance is a type of banking that provides financial services to low income
individuals or groups of people who would otherwise have no access to finance.

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Middle class
The middle class is a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy. Its usage has
often been vague whether defined in terms of occupation, income, education or social
status. One of the narrowest definitions limits it to those in the middle fifth of the
nation's income ladder. A wider characterization includes everyone but the poorest
20% and the wealthiest 20%.

Militia
Generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers,
citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a
time of need, as opposed to a professional force of regular, full-time military
personnel.

Minority group
A minority group, by its original definition, refers to a group of people whose practices,
race, religion, ethnicity, or other characteristics are fewer in numbers than the main
groups of those classifications. However, in present-day sociology, a minority group
refers to a category of people who experience relative disadvantage as compared to
members of a dominant social group.

Mitigation
The action of reducing the severity, seriousness, or painfulness of something.

Modern energy
The definition of modern energy services includes both access to electricity and to
clean cooking facilities (e.g., fuels and stoves that do not cause air pollution in
houses).

Mouth
Where a river ends, at a lake or the sea.

Multi-governmental organizations
Organizations that are comprised of the governments of multiple countries - such as
the United Nations or the European Union.

Multidimensional
Having many different features.

Multipurpose dams
Combines two or more functions of traditional single-purpose dams into one hydro
infrastructure project. A multipurpose dam may combine storing and supplying water
for irrigation, industry and human consumption with other uses such as flood control,
power generation, navigation, run-off storage and water discharge regulation.

Narcotics
The term usually refers to opiates or opioids, which are called narcotic analgesics. In
common parlance and legal usage, it is often used imprecisely to mean illicit drugs,
irrespective of their pharmacology.

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Nationalism
As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as
in a group of people), especially with the aim of gaining and maintaining the nation's
sovereignty (self-governance) over its homeland to create a nation state.

Natural resources
Stocks of materials that exist in the natural environment that are both scarce and
economically useful in production or consumption, either in their raw state or after a
minimal amount of processing.

NDB
The New Development Bank (NDB), formerly referred to as the BRICS Development
Bank, is a multilateral development bank established by the BRICS states (Brazil,
Russia, India, China and South Africa). According to the Agreement on the NDB, "the
Bank shall support public or private projects through loans, guarantees, equity
participation and other financial instruments."

Negative feedback
When a system acts by lessening the effect of the original change and ultimately
reversing it.

Neo-Malthusianism
The advocacy of human population planning to ensure resources and environmental
integrities for current and future human populations as well as for other species.

Nexus
The interrelationship, interdependence and interactions between water, food and
energy.

Nitrate fertilizers
Have high solubility, and the end-product nitrate ion is easily leached due to its high
mobility with excess irrigation-water application.

Non-governmental organization
An organization that generally is formed independently from government. They are
typically nonprofit entities and many of them are active in humanitarianism or the
social sciences; they can also include clubs and associations that provide services to
their members and others.

Normal flow
Average level of discharge caused by water flowing from tributaries and groundwater.

Nutrition transition
A model used to describe the shifts in diets, physical activity and causes of disease
that accompany changes in economic development, lifestyle, urbanisation, and
demography. It most commonly is used to refer to the change from traditional diets
towards “Western― diets rich in fats, sugars, meat and highly processed foods
and low in fibre, and accompanied by a rise in sedentary lifestyles.

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Occupied channel width
The width of the water within the channel at right angles to the direction of flow.

Ocean transport routes

The navigating lanes, both natural and man-made, in wide waterways used by large
vessels to connect major ports and carry cargo. These routes allow efficient, safe and
economic transportation of goods while offering the shortest sailing times.

OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is an
intergovernmental economic organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961
to stimulate economic progress and world trade.

Offshore tax haven

A country that offers foreign businesses and individuals minimal or no tax liability for
their bank deposits in a politically and economically stable environment. They have
tax advantages for corporations and for the very wealthy, and obvious potential for
misuse in illegal tax avoidance schemes.

OPEC
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is an intergovernmental
organization or cartel of 13 countries.

Optimistic
Hopeful and confident about the future.

Outputs
Whatever comes out of the system.

Outsourcing
The process of subcontracting part of a firm's business to another company, in order
to save money.

Overdevelopment
In international economics, overdevelopment refers to a way of seeing global
inequality and pollution that focuses on the negative consequences of excessive
consumption. It exists as the mutually constitutive counterpart to the more commonly
known concept of 'underdevelopment'.

Oxidation
A kind of chemical weathering that occurs when oxygen combines with another
substance and creates compounds called oxides. When rocks, particularly those with
iron in them, are exposed to air and water, the iron undergoes oxidation, weakening
the rocks and making them crumble.

Pandemic
An epidemic occurring worldwide or over a very wide area, crossing international
boundaries and usually affecting a large number of people.

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Particulate matter
The term for a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air. Some
particles, such as dust, dirt, soot, or smoke, are large or dark enough to be seen with
the naked eye. Others are so small they can only be detected using an electron
microscope.

Pattern
Spatial. Pattern across geographical space.

Patterned ground
The distinct and often symmetrical natural pattern of geometric shapes formed by the
deformation of ground material due to intense frost action in periglacial regions.

Peak discharge
The point (time) of maximum river discharge caused by the storm.

Peak rainfall
The hour of greatest rainfall during the storm.

Per capita consumption

Calculated by dividing the total quantity of material goods (water) consumed by the
population.

Percolation
The movement of water through the soil itself.

Periglacial environment
The effects of freezing and thawing drastically modify the ground surface. In a cold
climate, typically near glacierised regions. Perennially frozen ground that
seasonally-thaws (active layer). The ground is snow free for part of the year with
frequent fluctuations of air temperature across 0°C.

Periphery
Outlying regions with poor communications and sparse population.

Permafrost
Soil and rock where temperatures below O°C persist over at least two consecutive
winters and the intervening summer.

Permeable
A property of soils and rocks indicating their capacity for transmitting water.

Personal freedoms
Freedom of the person in going and coming, equality before the courts, security of
private property, freedom of opinion and its expression, and freedom of conscience
subject to the rights of others and of the public.

Pessimistic
Tending to see the worst aspect of things or believe that the worst will happen.

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Physical water scarcity
Where water resource development is approaching or has exceeded unsustainable
levels; it relates water availability to water demand and implies that arid areas are not
necessarily water scarce.

Physical weathering
Involves the breakdown of rocks into smaller fragments through mechanical
processes. Otherwise known as mechanical weathering.

Pingos
Ice-cored hills formed when water moves to the freezing plane under hydraulic or
hydrostatic pressure.

Place
Places can be identified at a variety of scales, from local territories or locations to the
national or state level. Places can be compared according to their cultural or physical
diversity, or disparities in wealth or resource endowment. The characteristics of a
place may be real or perceived, and spatial interactions between places can be
considered.

Plucking
Also known as quarrying, is a type of glacial erosion that occurs when a glacier pulls
or lifts pieces of rock out of the ground as it moves. This occurs when the glacier
freezes onto the rock and, as it moves, the rock is pulled away from the surrounding
soil and rock.

Polar
The regions of the planet that surround its geographical poles (the North and South
Poles), lying within the polar circles. These high latitudes are dominated by floating
sea ice covering much of the Arctic Ocean in the north, and by the Antarctic ice sheet
on the continent of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean in the south. The Arctic has
various definitions, including the region north of the Arctic Circle, or just the region
north of 60° north latitude, or the region from the North Pole south to the timberline.
The Antarctic is usually defined simply as south of 60° south latitude, or the
continent of Antarctica.

Political push factors

Political (relating to the government or public affairs of a country) factors which initiate
and influence the decision to migrate by impelling or stimulating emigration

Population Ageing
Population ageing - the process by which older individuals become a proportionally
larger share of the total population.

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Populism
Refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and
often juxtapose this group against "the elite." Populist parties and social movements
are often led by charismatic or dominant figures who present themselves as "the
voice of the people." According to the ideational approach, populism is often
combined with other ideologies, such as nationalism, liberalism, or socialism.

Positive feedback
Occurs within a system where a change causes a snowball effect, continuing or even
accelerating the original change.

Possibilities
The alternative events, futures and outcomes that geographers can model, project
and predict with varying degrees of certainty.

Poverty
the state of not having enough material possessions or income for a person's basic
needs

Power
The ability to influence and affect change or equilibrium at different scales. Power is
vested in citizens, governments, institutions and other players, and in physical
processes in the natural world.

Prevention
Action taken to decrease the chance of getting a disease or condition.

Pro-natalist
A population policy which aims to encourage more births through the use of
incentives.

Probabilistic projection
In the probabilistic projection method, the uncertainty of future demographic outcomes
is quantified by constructing a large sample of future trajectories for fertility and
mortality outcomes for each country. For each year in the future, point projections are
given by the median outcome of the sample of trajectories. The percentiles of the
sample are used to construct prediction intervals.

Processes
Processes are human or physical mechanisms of change, such as migration or
weathering. They operate on varying timescales. Linear systems, circular systems,
and complex systems are all outcomes of the way in which processes operate and
interact.

Profit repatriation
The ability of a firm to send foreign―earned profits or financial assets back to the
firm's home country in hard currency such as USD, EUR and others, after meeting the
host nation's tax obligations.

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Protectionism
Refers to government policies that restrict international trade to help domestic
industries.

Protectionism
Government specific restrictions on international trade to benefit domestic firms in an
economy.

Purchasing power parities

Exchange rates that account for relative price differences across countries.

Pyramidal peaks
Formed when three or more adjacent cirques develop on the side of a mountain
leaving a sharp mountain peak with steep sides and aretes radiating from a central
peak.

Quotas
A quota is a government-imposed trade restriction that limits the number or monetary
value of goods that a country can import or export during a particular period.
Countries use quotas in international trade to help regulate the volume of trade
between them and other countries. Countries sometimes impose quotas on specific
products to reduce imports and increase domestic production.

Rate of Natural Increase

The birth rate minus the death rate, expressed as a percentage. This value
represents the estimated rate of population growth without regard for migration.

Ratio between doctors/physicians and people

Medical doctors per 10000

Re-shoring
The process of returning the production and manufacturing of goods back to the
company's original country. Also known as onshoring, inshoring, or backshoring.

Recycling
The processing of waste so that materials can be reused.

Refugee
In the global context , either a person who, owing to a well-founded fear of
persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership
of a particular social group, is outside the country of nationality and is unable or,
owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of that country, or
a stateless person, who, being outside of the country of former habitual residence for
the same reasons as mentioned before, is unable or, owing to such fear, unwilling to
return to it.

Region
Larger than a country, smaller than a continent - such as Western Europe.

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Relative humidity
The ratio of how much water vapour is in the air and how much water vapour the air
could potentially contain at a given temperature.

Relief
The term used for the differences in height from place to place on the land’s
surface and it is greatly affected by the underlying geology. Relief relies on the
hardness, permeability and structure of a rock.

Relocation diffusion
Occurs when people move from their original location to another and bring their
innovations (or disease) with them.

Remittances
The transfer of money and/or goods by foreign workers to their home country.

Remoteness
Distant from main centres of population.

Resilience
The sustained ability to use available resources (energy, communication,
transportation, food, etc.) to respond to, withstand, and recover from adverse
situations.

Resource development
The development of natural resources effectively and efficiently without harming the
environment or human existence.

Resource nationalism
A government’s effort to gain greater control or value from its natural resources.
This can range from outright expropriation – when a government takes away a
private company’s assets – to more creeping forms of appropriation – such
as higher taxation or tougher regulation.

Resource stewardship
An approach to resource management which views humans as ‘caretakers’ of
the natural world.

Rising limb
The period of rising river discharge following a period of rainfall.

Risk
In its modern sense, the word risk has two distinct meanings: it can mean both the
possibility of danger and simultaneously its potential consequences. The first
definition emphasizes the source of the risk, while the second focuses on the target
exposed to the risk.

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Rock pedestals
Also known as mushroom rocks or pedestal rocks, are geological formations that
consist of a column of rock that is wider at the top than at the base, giving the
appearance of a pedestal.

Rotational movement
Refers to the rotating action of a glacier as it moves over a steep rock face or cliff. As
the glacier moves and rotates, it erodes the rock face through abrasion, plucking, and
freeze-thaw weathering. The glacier's repeated rotation and erosional action can
create a deep, steep-walled basin with a flat floor, known as a cirque basin or corrie,
at the head of a glacial valley.

Salinization
The process of increasing the salt content of soil or groundwater.

Salt weathering
A type of physical weathering of rocks that is most common in arid climates involves
the growth and expansion of salt crystals within rock cracks. No chemical alteration of
rock constituents is involved.

Saltation
The process by which particles are lifted upwards and forward before returning back
to the surface from which they started. This occurs in desert areas and in rivers.

Semi-arid
Receive 25 to 50 centimetres of rain per year.

Sense of place
The way we perceive places such as streets, communities, cities or ecoregions.

Services
A service is a transaction in which no physical goods are transferred from the seller to
the buyer.

Services sector
The service sector consists of the production of services instead of end products.
Services (also known as "intangible goods") include attention, advice, access and
experience.

Sex ratio
Number of males per 100 females in the population.

Silt
Granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken
grains of quartz.

Social marginalisation
Occurs when a person or groups of people are less able to do things or access basic
services or opportunities.

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Soil erosion
A naturally occurring process. In agriculture, soil erosion refers to the wearing away of
a field's topsoil by the natural physical forces of water and wind or through forces
associated with farming activities such as tillage.

Solifluction
An agent of transport that can produce tongue-shaped lobes. The slow (0.5 to 5 cm a
year) gravitational downslope movement of water-saturated, seasonally thawed
materials. During the summer, the soil above the permafrost melts, but the water is
unable to drain through the soil that is still frozen underneath.

Solution
The process by which certain minerals are dissolved by acidic solutions.

Source
Where a river starts, usually in the mountains.

Standard of living
Refers to the level of wealth, comfort, material goods, and necessities available to a
certain socioeconomic class or geographic area.

Stewardship
The conducting, supervising, or managing of something, especially : the careful and
responsible management of something entrusted to one's care.

Storm runoff
The discharge of the river above Normal Flow, caused by the Storm Event.

Stream gauge
A location used by hydrologists or environmental scientists to monitor and test
terrestrial bodies of water. Hydrometric measurements of water level surface
elevation ("stage") and/or volumetric discharge (flow) are generally taken and
observations of biota and water quality may also be made.

Streamflow
The flow of water in streams, rivers, and other channels.

Stunting
Defined as low height-for-age. It is the result of chronic or recurrent undernutrition,
usually associated with poverty, poor maternal health and nutrition, frequent illness
and/or inappropriate feeding and care in early life. Stunting prevents children from
reaching their physical and cognitive potential.

Subglacial
Beneath the glacier. Includes basal sediments and the basal layers of ice.

Superpower
a nation or group of nations with a leading position in international politics

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Supply chain
A network between a company and its suppliers to produce and distribute a specific
product to the final buyer. Companies develop supply chains so they can reduce their
costs and remain competitive in the business landscape.

Supraglacial
On the surface of the glacier.

Suspension
The process by which small particles, such as sediment, are carried and transported
within a fluid medium, such as water or air. The particles are suspended within the
fluid and move along with it, often remaining in suspension for a considerable period
of time.

Systems approach
Based on the generalization that everything is interrelated and inter­dependent.

Tariffs
A tariff is a tax imposed by a government of a country or of a supranational union on
imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government,
import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and policy that taxes
foreign products to encourage or safeguard domestic industry. Tariffs are among the
most widely used instruments of protectionism, along with import and export quotas.

Tax avoidance
Any legal method used by a taxpayer to minimize the amount of income tax owed.
Individual taxpayers and corporations can use forms of tax avoidance to lower their
tax bills.

Terminal moraine
A type of glacial moraine that is formed at the end of a glacier. When a glacier
reaches its farthest point of advance, it drops its load of material, forming a ridge of
debris that marks the furthest extent of the glacier.

TEU
The twenty-foot equivalent unit is an inexact unit of cargo capacity, often used for
container ships and container ports. It is based on the volume of a 20-foot-long
intermodal container, a standard-sized metal box which can be easily transferred
between different modes of transportation, such as ships, trains, and trucks.

Thermokarst
A landscape dominated by features resulting from the thawing of ground ice.

Total fertility rate

Represents the number of children that would be born to a woman if she were to live
to the end of her childbearing years and bear children in accordance with age-specific
fertility rates of the specified year.

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Trade bloc
A type of intergovernmental agreement, often part of a regional intergovernmental
organization, where barriers to trade (tariffs and others) are reduced or eliminated
among the participating states.

Trade bloc
A type of intergovernmental agreement, often part of a regional intergovernmental
organization, where barriers to trade (tariffs and others) are reduced or eliminated
among the participating states.

Trade restrictions
An artificial restriction on the trade of goods and/or services between two countries. It
is the byproduct of protectionism. However, the term is controversial because what
one part may see as a trade restriction another may see as a way to protect
consumers from inferior, harmful or dangerous products.

Trade war
A trade war happens when one country retaliates against another by raising import
tariffs or placing other restrictions on the other country's imports.

Transboundary pollution
The pollution that originates in one country but is able to cause damage in another
country’s environment, by crossing borders through pathways like water or air.

Transnational corporation (TNC)

A firm that owns or controls productive operations in more than one country through
foreign direct investment.

Transpiration
The conversion of water from liquid to gas as it passes through plant stomata, small
openings on the undersides of leaves of vascular plants.

Transportation
The process by which sediment or other materials are moved from one location to
another by the agents of transportation. This can occur through a variety of
mechanisms, such as wind carrying sand or dust, water transporting sediment
downstream, or ice moving rocks and debris across a landscape.

Tree line
The edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high
elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the
environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snowpack, or
associated lack of available moisture). The tree line is sometimes distinguished from
a lower timberline or forest line, which is the line below which trees form a forest with
a closed canopy.

Trend
Temporal. Change over time.

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Tributary
A smaller river that joins a larger one.

Tropics
The region of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are delimited in latitude by the
Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at 23°26′11.2″ N and the Tropic
of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at 23°26′11.2″ S; these latitudes
correspond to the axial tilt of the Earth.

Turbulent flow
Consists of a series of erratic eddies, both vertical and horizontal, in a downstream
direction

Undersea communications cable

A cable laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication
signals across stretches of ocean and sea.

Urbanization
The process by which an increasing percentage of a country’s population comes
to live in towns and cities. It may involve both rural–urban migration and natural
increase.

Vector-borne diseases
Vector-borne diseases are human illnesses caused by parasites, viruses and bacteria
that are transmitted by vectors. Vectors are living organisms that can transmit
infectious pathogens between humans, or from animals to humans. Many of these
vectors are bloodsucking insects, which ingest disease-producing microorganisms
during a blood meal from an infected host (human or animal) and later transmit it into
a new host, after the pathogen has replicated.

Velocity
The speed that water travels in the river channel.

Vertical farming
Farming on vertical surfaces rather than traditional, horizontal agriculture. By using
vertically stacked layers, farmers can produce much more food on the same amount
of land (or even less). Often these layers are integrated into buildings such as
skyscrapers, housed in warehouses or shipping containers, greenhouses, or placed in
spaces that would otherwise be unfit for farming.

Virtual water
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
creation of that product or service possible.

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Vulnerability
The conditions determined by physical, social, economic and environmental factors or
processes which increase the susceptibility of an individual, a community, assets or
systems to the impacts of hazards.

Wadi
Typically lacking a stream but occasionally experiencing a surge of water (flash flood)
for a brief period following heavy rainfall, a steep-sided ravine is found in desert and
semi-desert regions.

Wasting
Defined as low weight-for-height. It often indicates recent and severe weight loss,
although it can also persist for a long time. It usually occurs when a person has not
had food of adequate quality and quantity and/or they have had frequent or prolonged
illnesses. Wasting in children is associated with a higher risk of death if not treated
properly.

Water footprint
The water footprint of an individual, community or business is defined as the total
volume of fresh water used to produce the goods and services consumed by the
individual or community or produced by the business.

Water quality
Water full of dirt and grime might work fine for a tomato plant but would you want to
drink it? Water quality can be thought of as a measure of the suitability of water for a
particular use based on selected physical, chemical, and biological characteristics.

Water quantity
The amount of available water.

Water security
Continuing access to safe drinking water and sanitation.

Water table
The upper surface of the zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the
pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with water. It can also be simply
explained as the depth below which the ground is saturated.

Water-borne diseases
Contaminated water and poor sanitation are linked to transmission of diseases such
as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid and polio. Absent, inadequate,
or inappropriately managed water and sanitation services expose individuals to
preventable health risks.

Watershed
The boundary of a drainage basin

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Weathering
The disintegration and decomposition of rocks in situ by the combined actions of the
weather, plants and animals.

West Nile fever

An infection by the West Nile virus, which is typically spread by mosquitoes. In about
80% of infections people have few or no symptoms. About 20% of people develop a
fever, headache, vomiting, or a rash. In less than 1% of people, encephalitis or
meningitis occurs, with associated neck stiffness, confusion, or seizures. Recovery
may take weeks to months. The risk of death among those in whom the nervous
system is affected is about 10 percent.

Westernization
A process whereby societies come under or adopt Western culture in areas such as
industry, technology, science, education, politics, economics, lifestyle, law, norms,
mores, customs, traditions, values, mentality, perceptions, diet, clothing, language,
writing system, religion, and philosophy.

Wetland
areas where water covers the soil, or is present either at or near the surface of the
soil all year or for varying periods of time during the year, including during the growing
season. Water saturation largely determines how the soil develops and the types of
plant and animal communities living in and on the soil.

Wetted perimeter
The total length of the bed and bank sides in contact with the water in the channel.

Wetting and drying

Rocks containing clay minerals, such as clays and shales. When wet minerals expand
in volume, when dry, the minerals shrink. Repeated cycles of expansion and
contraction eventually cause the rock to fragment and crumble.

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