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

No more climate change worship, no more division, distraction, or gender delusions. —Rachel Marsden, Hartford Courant, 5 Apr. 2026

Addressing climate change may be important, but the real existential threat to our state is its fiscal well-being. —John Moorlach, Oc Register, 5 Apr. 2026

Its habitat is being affected by climate change and fires started by farmers clearing land, which are contributing to ecosystem degradation in the region. —Hanna Wickes, Charlotte Observer, 5 Apr. 2026

Carriers have blamed climate change for fueling devastating wildfires, despite holding billions of dollars in investments in the industry. —Ethan Varian, Mercury News, 5 Apr. 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