660
have low levels of human assets.” Forty-seven countries were classified as LDCs
in 2018.
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) A framework to evaluate the environmental (and
increasingly other) impacts of a good or service over its full life cycle from raw
material extraction, through operation and end-of-life, e.g., disposal.
Lock-in A property of infrastructure wherein human and natural ecosystems build
up around the readily available and low-cost services provided by an infrastructure and the system subsequently becomes very expensive to adapt.
Loess A deposit of silty or loamy particles concentrated in a geographic area primarily by wind. The materials for loess formation may originate from glacial
sources such as large braided river valleys, non-glacial sources like volcanic ash
eruptions, or any large dry flat area over which strong winds can develop sufficiently to transport fine particles, such as deserts and playa lakes.
Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) An organization that manages the
allocation of water within the Colorado River Basin in Texas.
Machine Learning Machine learning is the name of a set of methods of data science that aims to analyze data to learn, identify patterns and make informed
decisions by using mathematical and statistical concepts.
Macro-scale A spatial or temporal scale that summarizes the totals or averages of a
metric, without attempting to preserve the patterns of variation between granular
individuals.
Macroscope A tool or framework to sense and perceive a key aspect of a complex
system.
Maladaptation Action taken ostensibly to avoid or reduce vulnerability to climate
change by one group that increases the vulnerability of others.
Marginal Cost The cost of one additional unit of system output, without including
fixed costs like capital and maintenance.
MARKAL (Model) A energy systems model that represents the evolution over a
period of usually 40–50 years of a specific energy system at the national, regional,
state or province, or community level. It was developed in a cooperative multinational project over a period of almost two decades by the Energy Technology
Systems Analysis Program (ETSAP) of the International Energy Agency.
Measure (or Measurement) Information which refers to the actual measurement
of a state, quantity or process derived from observations or monitoring.
Mediation The use of a third-party neutral (a mediator) to help people work
through conflict but where the parties retain the ability to decide the outcome.
Mediation more often is used after a dispute arises and sometimes after litigation
has already started. All of the US states have mediation privilege statutes that
protect communications made for purposes of a mediation process.
Mercantilism An economic system that utilizes international trade to generate
wealth and usually including policies such as tariffs, subsidies, and quota to
maximize exports and minimize imports.
Meso-scale A spatial or temporal scale that aggregates together many micro-scale
objects to preserve privacy and reduce excessive detail, but without destroying the major pattern and information content of the data. Meso-scale is where
Glossary
have low levels of human assets.” Forty-seven countries were classified as LDCs
in 2018.
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) A framework to evaluate the environmental (and
increasingly other) impacts of a good or service over its full life cycle from raw
material extraction, through operation and end-of-life, e.g., disposal.
Lock-in A property of infrastructure wherein human and natural ecosystems build
up around the readily available and low-cost services provided by an infrastructure and the system subsequently becomes very expensive to adapt.
Loess A deposit of silty or loamy particles concentrated in a geographic area primarily by wind. The materials for loess formation may originate from glacial
sources such as large braided river valleys, non-glacial sources like volcanic ash
eruptions, or any large dry flat area over which strong winds can develop sufficiently to transport fine particles, such as deserts and playa lakes.
Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) An organization that manages the
allocation of water within the Colorado River Basin in Texas.
Machine Learning Machine learning is the name of a set of methods of data science that aims to analyze data to learn, identify patterns and make informed
decisions by using mathematical and statistical concepts.
Macro-scale A spatial or temporal scale that summarizes the totals or averages of a
metric, without attempting to preserve the patterns of variation between granular
individuals.
Macroscope A tool or framework to sense and perceive a key aspect of a complex
system.
Maladaptation Action taken ostensibly to avoid or reduce vulnerability to climate
change by one group that increases the vulnerability of others.
Marginal Cost The cost of one additional unit of system output, without including
fixed costs like capital and maintenance.
MARKAL (Model) A energy systems model that represents the evolution over a
period of usually 40–50 years of a specific energy system at the national, regional,
state or province, or community level. It was developed in a cooperative multinational project over a period of almost two decades by the Energy Technology
Systems Analysis Program (ETSAP) of the International Energy Agency.
Measure (or Measurement) Information which refers to the actual measurement
of a state, quantity or process derived from observations or monitoring.
Mediation The use of a third-party neutral (a mediator) to help people work
through conflict but where the parties retain the ability to decide the outcome.
Mediation more often is used after a dispute arises and sometimes after litigation
has already started. All of the US states have mediation privilege statutes that
protect communications made for purposes of a mediation process.
Mercantilism An economic system that utilizes international trade to generate
wealth and usually including policies such as tariffs, subsidies, and quota to
maximize exports and minimize imports.
Meso-scale A spatial or temporal scale that aggregates together many micro-scale
objects to preserve privacy and reduce excessive detail, but without destroying the major pattern and information content of the data. Meso-scale is where
Glossary