It is the volume of water potentially available for consumptive water-use sectors such as for agriculture, industries or municipalities.
A discipline that uses molecular or genetic markers to trace the development of a disease in a population and to understand transmission as well as the population structure and evolution of bacterial pathogens.
Treatment of a person, group, or concept as insignificant or peripheral.
Principal current of a flowing course of water (brook, river, etc.).
It expresses the mean abundance of original species in disturbed conditions relative to their abundance in an undisturbed habitat.
Ecological threshold that specifies the smallest number of individuals in a species or population capable of persisting at a specific statistical probability level for a predetermined amount of time.
Market-based instruments (MBIs) span a range of measures and approaches. Fundamentally, they are policy measures that influence outcomes through their effect on costs and profits. In the hands of policymakers, they can affect the operation of established markets or create new ones. They are commonly also referred to as ‘economic’ instruments because they attribute value to assets and directly affect decisions based on considerations of price and income.
Small plastic pieces, less than five millimeters long which can be harmful to our ocean and aquatic life.
It reflects the diversity in nutrients provided by the different food items based on the nutritional composition and amount of each food item present.
The quantification of all materials used in economic activities. It accounts for the total material mobilized during the extraction of materials and for the materials actually used in economic processes measured in terms of their mass.
The network of systems in which organizations exist; composed of culture, political forces, economic forces, technology, skill mixes, and consumer client groups; a source of opportunities and constraints for the organization.
Protected area managed for the sustainable use of natural ecosystems. Normally covers extensive and relatively isolated and uninhabited areas having difficult access, or regions that are relatively sparsely populated but are under considerable pressure for colonization or greater utilization.IUCN Definition: Category VI. Protected area managed mainly for the sustainable use of natural ecosystems. Area containing predominantly unmodified natural systems, managed to ensure long term protection and maintenance of biological diversity, while providing at the same time a sustainable flow of natural products and services to meet community needs.
The MIPS concept can be used to measure eco-efficiency of a product or service and applied in all scales from a single product to complex systems. The calculation takes into account materials required to produce a product or service. The total material input (MI) is divided by the number of service units (S). For example in case of a passenger car, the number of service units is the total number of passenger kilometres during the whole life span of the vehicle. The lower the material input per kilometre, the more eco-efficient is the vehicle. The whole life-cycle of a product or service is measured when MIPS values are calculated. This allows comparisons of resource consumption of different solutions to produce the same service. When a single product is examined, the MIPS calculations reveal the magnitude of resource use along the life-cycle and help to focus efforts on the most significant phases to reduce environmental burden of the product.
Black, completely decomposed organic material.
From 250 μm to 10 mm or greater in diameter.
A melanic horizon (from Greek melas, black) is a thick, black horizon at or near the soil surface, which is typically associated with short-range-order minerals (commonly allophane) or with organo-aluminium complexes.
The eight Millennium Development Goals – which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015 – formed a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions.
By marine is meant coastal and offshore waters in which the salinity is maximal and not subject to significant daily and seasonal variation.
A viral respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, or MERS-CoV) that was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012. Typical MERS symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath. Approximately 35 per cent of reported patients with MERS have died. The virus does not seem to pass easily from person to person and most human cases of MERS have been attributed to human-to-human infections in health care settings. The largest outbreaks have occurred in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and the Republic of Korea. Current scientific evidence suggests that dromedary camels are a major reservoir host for MERS-CoV and an animal source of MERS infection in humans.
The cultivation of marine organisms in their natural environment.
Muddy flow composed of water and a very high concentration of sediments and solid weathering debris and which has been generally originated by mass earth movements such as landslides in the upstream sections of the catchment.
An intervention intended to reduce ongoing degradation at a stage when degradation has already begun. The main aim here is to halt further degradation and to start improving resources and their functions.
Taking into consideration as an integral part of the issue in question.
Refers to a work relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps a less experienced or less knowledgeable person. The receiver of the mentoring was traditionally referred to as a protégé or apprentice; however, with the institutionalization of mentoring the more neutral word "mentee" (a.k.a., mentoree) was invented and has become widely used.
Protection to ensure that expectant and nursing mothers will not lose their job simply because of pregnancy or maternity leave. Such protection not only ensures a woman's equal access to employment, it also ensures the continuation of often vital income which is necessary for the well-being of her entire family.
Environmental impact category located between the life cycle inventory (human interventions) and the endpoints (final indicators, under areas of protection), for instance climate change or acidification.
Exclusive zone, contiguous zone, fishing zone, territorial sea, internal waters.
Treaties, conventions, protocols and contracts between several states regarding specific environmental problems.
Multilateral environmental agreements (MEAS)
In the context of climate change, a human intervention to reduce the sources, or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases. Examples include using fossil fuels more efficiently for industrial processes or electricity generation, switching to solar energy or wind power, improving the insulation of buildings and expanding forests and other ‘sinks’ to remove greater amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere.
Microbiological contamination refers to the non-intended or accidental introduction of microbes such as bacteria, yeast, mould, fungi, virus, prions, protozoa or their toxins and by-products. Prominent changes for Product Contamination include: loss of viscosity and sedimentation due to depolymerisation of suspending agents, pH Changes, Gas Production, Faulty smell, shiny viscous masses etc.
Microbial and non-microbial contaminants
Marine spatial planning is a public process of analyzing and allocating the spatial and temporal distribution of human activities in marine areas to achieve ecological, economic, and social objectives that usually have been specified through a political process. Characteristics of marine spatial planning include ecosystem-based, area-based, integrated, adaptive, strategic and participatory. It is a practical way to create and establish a more rational use of marine space and the interactions between its uses, to balance demands for development with the need to protect the environment, and to achieve social and economic objectives in an open and planned way.
The introduction by man, directly or indirectly, of substances or energy into the marine environment (including estuaries) resulting in such deleterious effects as harm to living resources, hazards to human health, hindrance to marine activities including fishing, impairment of quality for use of sea water and reduction of amenities
A condition in which a higher-than-normal amount of methemoglobin is found in the blood. Methemoglobin is a form of hemoglobin that cannot carry oxygen. In methemoglobinemia, tissues cannot get enough oxygen. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, rapid heartbeat, loss of muscle coordination, and blue-colored skin. Methemoglobinemia can be caused by injury or being exposed to certain drugs, chemicals, or foods. It can also be an inherited condition.
A coronavirus causing Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).
Middle east respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-COV)
A peatland that receives water and nutrients exclusively from atmospheric deposition and is isolated from laterally moving, more mineral-rich soil water.; An area with a naturally accumulated peat layer at the surface. The simple definition of a peatland is an area where peat is found. Peat, or turf as it is often called in Ireland, is a type of soil that contains a high proportion of dead organic matter, mainly plants, that has accumulated over thousands of years. Close inspection can reveal the types of plants that grew, died and accumulated to form a piece of peat.
The entire population or any geographically separate part of the population of any species or lower taxon of wild animals, a significant proportion of whose members cyclically and predictably cross one or more national jurisdictional boundaries.
The study of microorganisms and their interactions with other organisms and with environment.
A tiny sphere of plastic (such as polyethylene or polypropylene).
Mycotoxins are toxic compounds that are naturally produced by certain types of moulds (fungi). Moulds that can produce mycotoxins grow on numerous foodstuffs such as cereals, dried fruits, nuts and spices. Mould growth can occur either before harvest or after harvest, during storage, on/in the food itself often under warm, damp and humid conditions. Most mycotoxins are chemically stable and survive food processing.
A unit of energy equal to one million joules.
The mollic horizon (from L. mollis, soft) is a well structured, dark coloured surface horizon with a high base saturation and a moderate to high content in organic matter.
A geographically defined marine area that is designated or regulated and managed to achieve specific conservation objectives.
A crosscutting policy tool enabling public authorities and stakeholders to apply a coordinated, integrated and transboundary approach.
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) was called for by the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2000. Initiated in 2001, the objective of the MA was to assess the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being and the scientific basis for action needed to enhance the conservation and sustainable use of those systems and their contribution to human well-being. The MA has involved the work of more than 1,360 experts worldwide. Their findings, contained in five technical volumes and six synthesis reports, provide a state-of-the-art scientific appraisal of the condition and trends in the world’s ecosystems and the services they provide (such as clean water, food, forest products, flood control, and natural resources) and the options to restore, conserve or enhance the sustainable use of ecosystems.
Quantity of water retained by soil that can be absorbed by plants, between the times of full saturation and when at it is the lowest amount. WHC is usually measured within the topsoil, up until a depth of around 30cm.; The ability of the soil to retain or store water. The amount of water held by soil once excess has drained away.
An experimental application of biotechnology in which plants are genetically engineered to produce pharmaceutical proteins and chemicals they do not produce naturally.
The lowest concentration of an antibiotic agent which, when present in a nutrient culture medium, will prevent growth of a specific bacterial strain.
The maternal mortality ratio can be calculated by dividing recorded (or estimated) number of maternal deaths by total recorded (or estimated) number of live births in the same period and multiplying by 100,000.
A tree or shrub that grows in chiefly tropical coastal swamps that are flooded at high tide. Mangroves typically have numerous tangled roots above ground and form dense thickets.
A very rare disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the skin. Merkel cells are found in the top layer of the skin. These cells are very close to the nerve endings that receive the sensation of touch.
Refers to biomass wastes produced by the urban population and comprises two types: solid municipal by-products and gas/liquid municipal by-products produced in cities and villages.
The amount of water contained in the seed sample and is expressed as a percentage of the weight of the original sample.
Goods or services (such as education and vaccination) provided free for the benefit of the entire society by a government, because they would be under-provided if left to the market forces or private enterprise.
Any deposit of insoluble material, primarily rock and soil particles, transported from land areas to the ocean by wind, ice, and rivers, as well as the remains of marine organisms, products of submarine volcanic activity, and chemical precipitates from seawater that accumulate on the seafloor.
Market-based approaches or incentives provide continuous inducements, monetary and near-monetary, to encourage polluting entities to reduce releases of harmful pollutants. As a result, market-based approaches create an incentive for the private sector to incorporate pollution abatement into production or consumption decisions and to innovate in such a way as to continually search for the least costly method of abatement.
Urban areas with more than 10 million inhabitants.
Term used to capture the deaths caused by or associated with pregnancy, labour and puerperium.
Mottles are spots or blotches of different colours or shades of colour interspersed with the dominant colour of the soil.
Mainstreaming gender equity has become a strategic objective of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. To achieve FAO’s vision of a world free of hunger and malnutrition, its new strategic framework identifies a series of objectives that define impacts – in countries, regions and globally – to be achieved in the coming decade. It is set to become a major objective of the Food and Agriculture Organization.
Flow of water so heavily charged with sediment and debris that the flowing mass is thick and viscous.
A mixture of domestic, small-scale industrial and demolition solid wastes generated within a community.
The cultivation or growth of a single crop or organism especially on agricultural or forest land
A habitat which is of small or limited extent and which differs in character from some surrounding more extensive habitat.
Combining or involving several academic disciplines or professional specializations in an approach to a topic or problem.
Areas where the land use has been modified.