Glossary

Ambient air - outdoor or open air

BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand) - refers to the amount of oxygen necessary in water for bacteria to consume the organic waste present.

CO - carbon monoxide

CO2 - carbon dioxide

COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) - the amount of oxygen consumed under specific conditions in the oxidation of organic and oxidizable inorganic matter contained in the water

Endangered - a species facing imminent extirpation or extinction.

Exchange rate - The price at which one currency exchanges for another.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - the value of aggregate production in the economy in a year.

Integrated POC - particulate organic carbon, measured in a flask that incorporates half its sample from the surface of the water body and the other half from the bottom of the water body, giving a average of the whole depth.

Interest rate - the amount received by a lender and paid by a borrower expressed as a percentage of the amount of the loan.

Labour force - the sum of people who are employed and the people who are unemployed

Manufacturing intensity - a measure of the total value of goods produced (excluding agricultural industries and service industries) divided by real gross domestic product.

NAAQS - national ambient air quality standard

NH3-N - ammonia

NO2 - nitrogen dioxide

NO3 - nitrate

NOx - oxides of nitrogen, consisting of nitrous oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2).

Nominal Gross Domestic Product - GDP valued at the current year’s price.

O3 - ozone

OECD - Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development

PCB’s (Polychlorinated biphenyls) - organic chemicals that formerly had widespread use in electrical transformers and hydraulic equipment. PCB’s have strong potential to accumulate in the food chain .

Phenol - primarily a man-made chemical, although it is also found in animal wastes and decomposing organic matter. It is used as an intermediate in the production of phenol resins, which is used in several types of industrial processes.

ppb - parts (of contaminant) per billion (parts of air)

ppm - parts (of contaminant) per million (parts of air)

ppt - parts (of contaminant) per trillion (parts of air)

Real Gross Domestic Product - the value of aggregate production measured in the prices of a single year.

SO2 - sulphur dioxide

Stock - a quantity that exists at a point in time.

Threatened - a species likely to become endangered if limiting factors are not reversed

Time Series Graph - a graph that measures time (for example, months or years) on the x-axis and the variable(s) in which we are interested on the y-axis.

Trend - a general tendency for a variable to rise or fall.

Trade intensity - a measure of total imports plus exports divided by real gross domestic product

TSP (total suspended particulate) - generic term for airborne particulate including smoke, fume, dust, fly ash and pollen; approximately 0.1 to 100 microns in diameter.

VOC (Volatile organic compounds) - refer only to photochemically reactive hydrocarbons and therefore exclude compounds such as methane, ethane and several chlorinated organics

Vulnerable - a species of special concern because of characteristics that make it particularly sensitive to human activities or natural events.

ug/m^3 - micrograms per cubic metre

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