In addition, large-scale climate events like El Nino and La Nina redistribute vast water masses among Earth's ocean, atmosphere and land. Scientists care because, to put movements of Earth's crust into proper context, they need a frame of reference to evaluate them against.
Adj. 1. operant-having influence or producing an effect; many emotional determinants at work; an operant conscience. operative-being in force or having or exerting force; operative regulations; the major tendencies operative in the American political system. 1  Facebook.
latent Latent is an adjective that you use to describe something that is capable of becoming active or at hand, though it is not currently so. The adjective latent is a tricky word to define because it refers to something there but not there. That is, latent means something that is capable of becoming active or at hand but has not yet achieved that state. The word arrived in Middle English from the Latin word latÄre which means to lie hidden..