Definitions - m

Magma

Climate change is a change in the statistical distribution of weather over periods of time that range from decades to millions of years. It can be a change in the average weather or a change in the distribution of weather events around an average (for example, greater or fewer extreme weather events). Climate change may be limited to a specific region, or may occur across the whole Earth.

In recent usage, especially in the context of environmental policy, climate change usually refers to changes in modern climate. It may be qualified as anthropogenic climate change, more generally known as global warming.

Wikipedia - Climate Change entry

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Magnetosphere

Physics. the transfer of heat by the circulation or movement of the heated parts of a liquid or gas.

Often encountered by people the most when heating a home, as the heat rises to the ceiling. The opposite effect, cooling, can be observed near windows on a cold night, the windows cool the air and it drops. Therefore convection often causes drastic heat loss close to windows. If not dealt with (by the usage of curtains or double glazing usually) this can contribute greatly to heating and cooling costs, as in Summer you will get the opposite effect of heat easily entering the property from the outside via the glass & convection.

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Mammatus Clouds

Clouds that look like pouches hanging from the underside of a cloud.

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Mandatory Recycling

Programs which by law require consumers to separate trash so that some or all recyclable materials are recovered for recycling rather than going to landfills.

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Mantle

The part of the earth between the crust and the core.

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Mauna Loa

A volcano on the island of Hawaii where scientists have maintained the longest continuous collection of reliable daily atmospheric records.

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Mean Radiant Temperature

The average temperature experienced from the combination of all the surface temperatures in a room, i.e walls, floors, ceilings, furniture, and people.

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Mesoscale

Physics. the transfer of heat by the circulation or movement of the heated parts of a liquid or gas.

Often encountered by people the most when heating a home, as the heat rises to the ceiling. The opposite effect, cooling, can be observed near windows on a cold night, the windows cool the air and it drops. Therefore convection often causes drastic heat loss close to windows. If not dealt with (by the usage of curtains or double glazing usually) this can contribute greatly to heating and cooling costs, as in Summer you will get the opposite effect of heat easily entering the property from the outside via the glass & convection.

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Meteorologist

A scientist who studies the weather.

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Meteorology

The science of weather related phenomena.

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Methane

Physics. the transfer of heat by the circulation or movement of the heated parts of a liquid or gas.

Often encountered by people the most when heating a home, as the heat rises to the ceiling. The opposite effect, cooling, can be observed near windows on a cold night, the windows cool the air and it drops. Therefore convection often causes drastic heat loss close to windows. If not dealt with (by the usage of curtains or double glazing usually) this can contribute greatly to heating and cooling costs, as in Summer you will get the opposite effect of heat easily entering the property from the outside via the glass & convection.

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Methyl Bromide

An effective pesticide; used to fumigate soil and many agricultural products. Because it contains bromine, it depletes stratospheric ozone when released to the atmosphere.

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Metropolitan Coalescence

The merging of the urbanized areas of separate metropolitan regions; Megalopolis is an example of this process.

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Micro Inverter

This is a small Inverter that mounts on to the back of each solar panel instead of having one large Inverter used by all the panels. While it works better when partial shading is a concern, it can increase the cost of the overall system.

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Micro Wind Turbine

Micro wind turbine is an umbrella term for small scale wind turbines that are typically deployed on or near buildings and used to generate electricity that is transmitted direct to the property.

Micro wind turbines have in the past been criticized for being visually intrusive and generating less energy than expected.

However, suppliers maintain that models can generate up to 100Kw of energy and represent an efficient source of on-site renewable energy as long as they are situated correctly.

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Microburst

A strong localized downdraft less than 4 km wide that occurs beneath severe thunderstorms. A strong downdraft greater than 4 km across is called a down burst.

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Microgrid

Carbon is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. There are three naturally occurring isotopes, with 12C and 13C being stable, while 14C is radioactive, decaying with a half-life of about 5730 years. Carbon is one of the few elements known since antiquity. The name "carbon" comes from Latin language carbo, coal.

See the full entry on wikipedia

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Midnight Zone

The area of the ocean beneath the twilight zone, extending from 3,000 feet (1,000 m) down to the ocean floor, where only about 1 percent of marine life can survive.

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Mitigation

Physics. the transfer of heat by the circulation or movement of the heated parts of a liquid or gas.

Often encountered by people the most when heating a home, as the heat rises to the ceiling. The opposite effect, cooling, can be observed near windows on a cold night, the windows cool the air and it drops. Therefore convection often causes drastic heat loss close to windows. If not dealt with (by the usage of curtains or double glazing usually) this can contribute greatly to heating and cooling costs, as in Summer you will get the opposite effect of heat easily entering the property from the outside via the glass & convection.

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Modal

Sustainable development is the act of development (as in industrial development, be it farming, manufacturing, commerce, etc) performed in such a way it is:

  • Green,
  • Clean,
  • Sustainable, and,
  • Balanced
What this means is that man is seen as an integral part of the environment and ecology of the world, and therefore has just as much right as anything else to interaction with and utilization of the environment. Although, through our intelligence and science we can choose to interact in a way which creates net gains for all parties - including the environment.

Core to this is recognition of the whole chain of cause and effect, it is not good enough to clean up one sector of the environment by ignoring another; for instance buying none renewable solar panels made in China (one of the most polluted countries globally) to make yourself more locally 'Green'  is not globally a net gain to the environment.

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Monoculture

Physics. the transfer of heat by the circulation or movement of the heated parts of a liquid or gas.

Often encountered by people the most when heating a home, as the heat rises to the ceiling. The opposite effect, cooling, can be observed near windows on a cold night, the windows cool the air and it drops. Therefore convection often causes drastic heat loss close to windows. If not dealt with (by the usage of curtains or double glazing usually) this can contribute greatly to heating and cooling costs, as in Summer you will get the opposite effect of heat easily entering the property from the outside via the glass & convection.

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Mould

A coating or discoloration caused by various saprotrophic fungi that develop in a damp atmosphere on the surface of stored food, fabrics, wallpaper, etc.

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Mutagenicity

A change in the genetic material of a living organism, usually in a single gene, which can be passed on to future generations.

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