Glossary of Climate Change - M

M

• Magnetosphere - the region around an astronomical object in which phenomena are dominated or organized by its magnetic field.
• Maunder Minimum - the name given to the period roughly from 1645 to 1715, when sunspots became exceedingly rare, as noted by solar observers of the time.
• Mauna Loa - home to the longest instrumental CO₂ record.
• Medieval climate optimum - warm period from about the 10th century to about the 14th century.
• Meteorology - the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere that focuses on weather processes and forecasting.
• Methane - a greenhouse gas released by enteric fermentation in livestock, rice production, and fossil fuel extraction.
• Mitigation of global warming - involves taking actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to enhance sinks aimed at reducing the extent of global warming
• Mode of variability - a pattern of climate change, usually oscillatory, with specific regional effects