Glossary

Acre – a measurement of land area equal to 43,560 square feet

Avoided Deforestation – not cutting down trees that would otherwise be cut down

Carbon Credits – value assigned to a reduction of emissions per metric ton

Carbon Footprint – total greenhouse gas emissions of an individual, entity, or activity

Carbon Markets – emission markets of CO2

Carbon Offset – a financial instrument used to counteract the carbon emissions of an entity by subscribing to a reduction in emissions of carbon or other greenhouse gases

Carbon Sequestration – capture and storage of carbon dioxide

Carbon Trading – emissions trading of CO2

Clean Development Mechanism – a Kyoto Protocol method to validate carbon emission reductions (CER)

DAP – chest high diameter of a tree

Earned Sequester Credit – credits earned by the natural process of the forest removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

GHG - greenhouse gas; see below

Global Climate Disruption – the result of an action or event that affects worldwide climate outside the limits of normal cyclic changes

Greenhouse Gas – gases in the atmosphere including carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and nitrous oxide (NO2), that contribute to the greenhouse effect by absorbing the infrared rays produced as the sun warms the earth

Hectare – a measurement of land area equal to 2.47 acres; 1 sq. mile= approximately 259 hectares

Kyoto Protocol – Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement tied to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Metric ton -  one metric ton (or tonne) = 2204.6 pounds or 1000 Kg

P.A.R. – Protect Amazon Rainforest, Inc

Sequester Carbon Credit – credits a landowner receives for leaving carbon undisturbed.

Sequester Credit – the capture of 1 metric ton of CO2

Sequester Offset – the financial instrument used with carbon sequestration

Tree Sequestration – the tree carbon sequestration of the Amazon rainforest is 30 tons of CO2 per hectare or 12 tons per acre.  The Amazon rainforest sequesters more CO2 than most other forests because it is located close to the equator.  It is one of the world’s largest natural sequesterers of CO2 and also sequesters other greenhouse gases.

UNFCCC – United Nations treaty on greenhouse gas emissions