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

With climate change, droughts are getting more severe, winters are getting warmer, and average snow lines have moved higher in the mountains. — Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026

Due to phenomena such as aging populations and climate change, the situation is worsening. — Jennifer Weil, Footwear News, 16 Sep. 2026

The activists said the lease was granted in 2012 under an impact report that never considered coal or even climate change. — John Ramos, CBS News, 16 Sep. 2026

The heat and humidity that broke many records during the summer would not have been possible without climate change, according to a study by the World Weather Attribution group. — ABC News, 16 Sep. 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