Terminology |
A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z
T... |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Table | In the legislative sense, an action taken to halt debate on a bill. NRDC |
| Tap Water | Drinking water monitored (and often filtered) for protection against contamination and available for public consumption from sources within the home. NRDC |
| Tax Shift | Replacing one kind of taxes with another, without changing the total amount of money collected. For example, replacing a portion of income taxes with carbon tax or other pollution taxes. NRDC |
| Telecommuting | Working with others via telecommunications technologies (e.g., telephones, modems, faxes) without physically travelling to an office. NRDC |
| Temperate | Region in which the climate undergoes seasonal change in temperature and moisture. Temperate regions of the earth lie primarily between 30 and 60 degrees latitude in both hemispheres. |
| Teratogen | Something capable of causing malformations to an embryo or fetus. |
| Terrestrial | Living on land, as opposed to marine or aquatic. |
| Thermonuclear | The application of high heat, obtained via a fission explosion, to bring about fusion of light nuclei. NRDC |
| Third Order Consumers | Animals that eat first- and/or second-order consumers planetpals |
| Threatened Species | Wild species that is still abundant in its natural range but is likely to become endangered because of a decline in numbers. planetpals |
| Threatened Species | Species of flora or fauna likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future. NRDC |
| Three Gorges | A project along the Yangtze river in China to build the largest hydroelectric dam in the world. NRDC |
| Timber | Logged wood sold as a commodity. NRDC |
| Tnt Equivalent | A measure of the energy released in the detonation of a nuclear weapon, expressed in terms of the quantity of TNT which would release the same amount of energy. NRDC |
| Tongass | A national forest in southeast Alaska comprising one of the United States' last remaining temperate rainforests. NRDC |
| Top Consumer | An organism at the top of a food chain planetpals |
| Toxic | Poisonous. NRDC |
| Toxic Emissions | Poisonous chemicals discharged to air, water, or land. NRDC |
| Toxic Sites | Land contaminated with toxic pollution, usually unsuitable for human habitation. NRDC |
| Toxic Waste | Garbage or waste that can injure, poison, or harm living things, and is sometimes life-threatening. NRDC |
| Toxification | Poisoning. NRDC |
| Trace Gas | Any one of the less common gases found in the Earth's atmosphere. planetpals |
| Traffic Calming | Designing streets to reduce automobile speed and to enhance walking and bicycling. NRDC |
| Transit | See public transportation. NRDC |
| Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSE) | A group of progressive conditions that affect the brain and nervous system of animals. According to the most widespread hypothesis they are transmitted by prions, though some other data suggest an involvement of a Spiroplasma infection. Mental and physical abilities deteriorate and myriad tiny holes appear in the cortex causing it to appear like a sponge (hence 'spongiform') when brain tissue obtained at autopsy is examined under a microscope. The disorders cause impairment of brain function, including memory changes, personality changes and problems with movement that worsen over time. Wikipedia |
| Transpiration | The release of water or moisture into the atmosphere through the stomata of plants and vegetation. |
| Transportation | Any means of conveying goods and people. NRDC |
| Transportation Planning | Systems to improve the efficiency of the transportation system in order to enhance human access to goods and services. NRDC |
| Trash | Items that are discarded also ""waste"". planetpals |
| Trash | Waste material that cannot be recycled and reused (synonymous with garbage). NRDC |
| Trawls | Nets with a wide mouth tapering to a small, pointed end, usually called the ""cod end."" Trawls are towed behind a vessel at any depth in the water column. NRDC |
| Tree Line | The height on a mountain above which the climate is too cold for trees to grow planetpals |
| Trip Reduction | Reducing the total numbers of vehicle trips, by sharing rides or consolidating trips with diverse goals into fewer trips. NRDC |
| Trolling | A method of fishing using several lines, each hooked and baited, which are slowly dragged behind the vessel. NRDC |
| Tropical | Region in which the climate undergoes little seasonal change in either temperature or rainfall. Tropical regions of the earth lie primarily between 30 degrees north and south of the equator. |
| Tropical Rain Forest | A forest that gains more water from precipitation than it loses through evaporation. Located in the tropical zone and having an average temperature between 70¡ and 85¡F (21¡ and 29¡C) and average yearly rainfall of more than 80 inches (200 cm) planetpals |
| Tropical Zone | The region between latitudes 23.5¡S and 23.5¡N planetpals |
| TSE | see Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies |
| Tundra | A treeless biome mainly in the north polar areas that has long frigid winters and brief summers and where grasses, mosses, lichen, low shrubs, and a few flowering plants survive planetpals |
| Tundra | A vast, mostly flat, treeless Arctic region of Europe, Asia, and North America in which the subsoil is permanently frozen. The dominant vegetation is low |
| Turtle Excluder Device (Ted) | A gear modification used on shrimp trawls that enables incidentally caught sea turtles to escape from the nets. NRDC |
| Twilight Zone | The shadowy area of the ocean, extending from the bottom of the sunlight zone down to about 3,000 feet ( l ,000 m), where plants cannot grow and where animals are less numerous and smaller planetpals |