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

It's made worse by generally more humid conditions, also attributable to climate change. — Scott Neuman, NPR, 2 July 2026

The heat wave comes as scientists warn that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. — Sam Meredith, CNBC, 3 July 2026

This is the latest edition of Boiling Point, a newsletter about climate change and the environment in the American West. — Noah Haggerty, Los Angeles Times, 2 July 2026

While the pet trade is a part of the problem for songbirds in Southeast Asia, habitat loss and climate change likely play a bigger role in Africa and Latin America. — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 2 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1854, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for climate change

• arrange
• derange
• estrange
• exchange
• midrange
• grange
• mange
• range
• strange
• interchange
• rearrange

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