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abiotic—Refers to nonliving basic elements and compounds of the environment.
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ablation—1. All processes that remove snow, ice, or water from a glacier, snowfield, etc.; in this sense, the opposite of accumulation. These processes include melting, evaporation, calving, wind erosion, and an avalanche. Air temperature is the dominant factor in controlling ablation, precipitation amounts exercising only secondary control. During the ablation season (usually summer), an ablation rate of about 2 mm h−1 is typical of glaciers in a temperate climate. 2. The amount of snow or ice removed by the above-described processes; in this sense, the opposite of accumulation.
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abnormal—Different from normal in whatever sense the latter term is used. When normal signifies typical, abnormal means unusual, lying outside the range of common occurrence. When normal signifies a mean or median value, abnormal implies a deviation, however slight, from the mean or median. Compare anomalous.
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abnormality—In meteorology, a deviation of the weather or climate from the conditions normally expected at a particular time and place; a deviation from the normal. Compare anomaly.
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Abrolhos squalls—(Also called abroholos.) Rain or thundersqualls of the frontal type experienced mainly from May through August near the Abrolhos Islands (18°S) off the coast of Brazil.
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