climate change

noun

: significant and long-lasting change in the Earth's climate and weather patterns

The half-tonne … turtles were thought to have died out 30,000 to 40,000 years ago because of climate change.

—New Scientist

especially, in current use : such change associated with global warming

Concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and global climate change are renewed among scientists and the public with every new report about the possibility of melting icecaps and rising temperatures.

—Randy Showstack

Drought is a paleontological fact in the American West, but the latest desiccations have a new signature, and my region's climatologists, hydrologists, foresters, and water managers are nearly unanimous in their conviction that what we are seeing now is climate change, the anthropogenic kind, a consequence of too much CO2 and other greenhouse gases.

—Kenneth Brower

Examples of climate change in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Unfortunately, emissions are still slowing much too slowly to prevent catastrophic climate change. —Melvin Backman, Quartz, 15 Nov. 2024

Two major countries’ approach to climate change has turned upside down Down Under. —Mahalia Dobson, NBC News, 10 Nov. 2024

Many were parents of children with lung diseases and environmental justice activists who said the standard doesn’t go far enough to reduce air pollution and climate change. —Grant Stringer, The Mercury News, 9 Nov. 2024

Marquis: In the meantime, how might climate change reshape the coffee industry for consumers in terms of pricing, quality, and availability – could coffee become a luxury good? —Christopher Marquis, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1854, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

climate change

noun

: significant and long-lasting change in the earth's climate and weather patterns

especially : such change associated with global warming