SW-NCA-color-FINALweb

Glossary 493misery days – days where people feel strongly impacted by temperature, which occurwhen the temperature maximum is greater than or equal to 110°F or when the temperatureminimum is less than 32°Fmitigation – reducing the causes of climate change; often this refers to reducing greenhousegas emissions. Examples of mitigation measures include reduction of greenhousegas emissions through improved home energy conservation, improved automobile gasmileage, or development of low-emission alternative energy power plants.mixing height – the level of an inversion layer. It is like an atmospheric ceiling that limitsthe volume of air into which air pollution can mix. High air pollution is associatedwith a low mixing height/inversion layer, while a high mixing height is associated withbetter air quality.model calibration – used in Box 10.3, this term refers to the adjustment of a model (forexample a climate or hydrologic model), to insure that the model produces a realisticsimulation of current conditions; the aforementioned “adjustment” usually requires improvingthe equation that represents a physical processmorbidity – illnessmortality – deathmunicipio – municipality (in Mexico)National Climate Assessment – a report issued every four years to the President andCongress, as authorized by the Global Change Research Act of 1990. The report examinescurrent trends in global change (both human-induced and natural) and projectsmajor trends for the subsequent 25 to 100 years.naturalized flow, naturalized streamflow – the “natural” amount of water in the streamin the absence of human activity: Raw streamflow data are often ill-suited for scientificstudies, because they are affected by diversions of water for irrigation; naturalized flowdata are developed to account for water diversions and give a more realistic picture ofthe flow of a river, if no water were diverted.nonconsumptive use – water use that leaves the water available for other uses and isnot lost to the atmosphere through transpiration or evaporation, such as water that isretained in water systems through drainage pipes or the portion of irrigation water leftas return flow to a surface or groundwater basinnon-governmental organization – a legally constituted organization that is independentof a government and usually is not a for-profit business, and which usually pursueslarger social aims that may or may not be partly politicalnonlinear relationship – any relationship that is not linear: Most physical processes canbe approximated by linear relationships; however, some key processes are non-linearand can increase rapidly. For example, as atmospheric temperature increases, the capacityof the atmosphere to take on water increases non-linearly.non-market value – the value of goods not traded in markets, such as clean air and waterNorth American dipole – a situation in which relative conditions of precipitation occurin opposition simultaneously for the Pacific Northwest and for the southern Southwest;