Units of Measure and Definitions

Units of Measure and Definitions used in this Publication

• IPCC = International Panel on Climate Change is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations responsible for advancing knowledge on human-induced climate change.

• AR6 = Assessment Report 6 on Climate Change released by the IPCC on 9 August 2021 with 234 authors, 78,007 review comments, 14,000 papers reviewed, 3,949 pages, 1 million+ words. The shorter SPM (Summary for Policymakers) is a specially negotiated document reviewed line-by-line and unanimously approved by all UN IPCC countries.

• CMIP6 = Coupled Model Intercomparison Projects = about 100 distinct climate models from different modelling groups used for analysis to produce the IPCC AR6 document.

• COP26 = United Nations ‘Conference of Parties’ meeting to obtain broad agreement for achieving net zero emissions by mid century to stay under 1.5°Celsius global warming.

• CO2 = CO2 = Carbon Dioxide = one Carbon atom covalently double electron bonded to two Oxygen atoms in a theorised and defined molecular structure.

• CH4 = CH4 = Methane = one Carbon atom covalently single electron bonded to four Hydrogen atoms in a theorised and defined molecular structure.

• C = Carbon = the 6th fundamental Earth element in the Periodic Table of Elements that are found on Earth.

• ppm = Parts Per Million = how many parts a specific item type makes up within the one million items.

• 1 mole = 6.02214076 x 10^23 particles.

• 1 Gt = 1 GigaTonne = 1 billion Tonnes = 1,000,000,000 Tonnes = 10^9 Tonnes.

• 1 Mt = 1 MegaTonne = 1 million Tonnes = 1,000,000 Tonnes = 10^6 Tonnes. 

• 1 t = 1 Tonne = 1,000 kilograms = 1 thousand kilograms = 10^3 kilograms. 

• 1 kg = 1 kilogram = 1,000 grams = 1 thousand grams = 10^3  grams.

• 1 km = 1 kilometre = 1,000 metres = 1 thousand metres = 10^3  metres.

• 0˚C = Zero degree Celsius = 273.15 kelvin = (0°Celsius x 1.8 + 32) Fahrenheit.

• 1 EJ = 1 ExaJoule = 10^18  joules = 1 quintillion joules = 277,777.7777778 GigaWatt Hours (GW⋅h).

• 1 GW⋅h = 1 GW h = 1 gigawatt-hour is a unit of energy equal to 1 GigaWatt of power sustained for one Hour, or 3.6 x 10^12 joules.

• 1 GigaWatt = 1 billion Watts = 1,000 MegaWatts = 1,000,000,000 Watts = 10^9 Watts.

• 1 J = 1 Joule = 1 W.s = work required to produce 1 Watt of power for 1 second = 1 kg.metre^2/second^2 = 1.60217653 x 10^19 electronVolts.

• Δ = delta = a change in some value or thing.

• Hansen Equation 1:   Δ CO2 10 ppm = Δ Average Earth Temp 0.5 degree Celsius = Δ Sea Level 10 metres.

• Hansen-Valone Equation 2:   1 ppm of CO2 = 7.77 (versus GCP’s 7.328) GigaTonnes of CO2 = 2 GigaTonnes of C.

• Anthropogenic = a result that comes from the influence of human beings on nature.

• CCS = Carbon Capture and Storage.

• CCU = Carbon Capture and Use.

• Decarbonization / GeoEngineering – are general terms describing advanced technologies and systems used to reduce the effect of CO2 emission levels on Earth. These technologies and systems are also commonly referred to as Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR). 

  • • 1st order Decarbonization / GeoEngineering technologies, are potentially very useful, such as Direct Air Capture (DAC), as they actively extract CO2 from the Earth's Atmosphere using industrial CCS or CCU processes; 

    • 2nd order Decarbonization / GeoEngineering technologies, such as Stratospheric Aerosol Injection, may be extremely dangerous with entirely unpredictable long-term planetary consequences, so need to be quickly assessed and potentially strictly outlawed worldwide due to the global risks.

• LTI = Linear Time-Invariant = a type of system that produces an Output signal from any Input signal subject to the constraints of Linearity and Time-Invariance.

• MSL Valone Equation 1 = Maximum Sea Level = 80 metres = estimate of (Antarctic ice adds 60m) + (Arctic/Greenland ice adds 10m) + (Global thermal ocean water expansion adds 10m) when 100% of Earth’s Sea Ice is melted.