Search
Results for " "
Displaying 30 of about 339 resultsA freeze is an air temperature equal to or less than the freezing point of water (D °C) (adapted from WMO, 1992).
A snow storm is a meteorological disturbance giving rise to a heavy fall of snow, often accompanied by strong winds (WMO, 1992).
A storm surge reflects the difference between the actual water level under the influence of a meteorological disturbance (storm tide) and the level which would have occurred in the absence of the meteorological disturbance (i.e., astronomical tide) (WMO, 2008, 2011, 2017).
Seiches are sea-level oscillations at the resonant frequency of enclosed bodies of water (WMO, 2011).
Polluted air is air containing dust, smoke, micro-organisms or gases different from those from which it would normally be composed (WMO, 1992).Alternative definition: Polluted air is air which contains gases and particles emitted to the atmosphere by a variety of human activities and natural sources, or formed in the atmosphere, that at critical levels…
A submarine landslide is a downslope movement of sediment or rock under the effect of gravity, which occurs when the stresses acting downslope exceed the available strength of the sediment on the slope (Lee et al., 2007).
Subsidence is a lowering or collapse of the ground, caused by various factors, including groundwater lowering, sub-surface mining or tunnelling, consolidation, sinkholes, or changes in moisture content in expansive soils. Shrink-swell is the term applied to the behaviour of expansive soils, which are a group of soils that exhibit volumetric change in re…
Eutrophication is the overabundance of nutrients in a body of water that results in harmful algal blooms, fish kills, and in some cases ecosystem collapse. It is a process driven by enrichment of water by nutrients, particularly compounds of nitrogen and/or phosphorus, leading to increased growth, primary production and biomass of algae; changes in the…
Avian influenza is an infectious disease of birds caused by type A influenza viruses of the Orthomyxoviridae family. Naturally occurring among wild bird populations, avian influenza viruses can infect domestic poultry and other bird species. Some avian influenza viruses can also infect mammals and those affecting humans are called zoonotic. A pandemic c…
Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a bacterium commonly found in the gut. Some strains can cause serious food poisoning, leading to diarrhoea and sometimes to life-threatening complications including haemolytic uraemic syndrome (WHO, 2018).
Diarrhoeal diseases are infectious diseases, contaminants and other causes of diarrhoea. Diarrhoea is defined as the passage of three or more loose or liquid stools per day, or more frequently than is normal for the individual (WHO, no date). This includes the three clinical types of diarrhoea: acute watery diarrhoea – lasts several hours or days, and i…
Animal disease is an impairment of the normal state of an animal that interrupts or modifies its vital function. Infectious diseases of livestock and wildlife are a major threat to global animal health and welfare and their effective control is crucial for agronomic health, for safeguarding and securing national and international food supplies and for a…
Vector borne diseases encompass a variety of illnesses that are caused via the spread of pathogens by living organisms known as vectors. These infectious diseases can be transmitted via vectors among humans (e.g., malaria, dengue), among animals (e.g., African swine fever, East Coast fever), or from animals to humans (e.g., Nipah virus disease). Many of…
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a diverse group of communicable diseases caused by bacteria, viruses or parasites that prevail in tropical and subtropical conditions (WHO, no date). Twenty diseases and disease groups are addressed in the global roadmap for NTDs 2021–2030 (WHO, 2020).
Foodborne diseases are transmitted by consumption of contaminated biological food and drink (WHO, 2012). These diseases are caused by eating food contaminated with bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances (WHO, no date).