First, absorption helps people by preventing high-energy radiation from reaching the surface which limits our exposure to harmful radiation. The atmosphere absorbs most of the radiation from the ultraviolet region through the X-ray region. The second way in which absorption helps the earth is as a heat source for it.
*lean times (ahead). Fig. a future period of lowered income or revenue; a future period when there will be shortages of goods and suffering. (*Typically: be ~; cause ~; have ~; mean ~ .) The economy is going sour which means lean times ahead.
Related Terms. 1. General: Measurement of change over time. A quantity (such as expense, investment, or usage) takes meaning only when time is taken into account. 2. Lean production: Movement of goods or services along the value stream from raw materials to the customer without backflow, stoppages, or waste. logic gate cusec