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

Sentian warns that the frequency of Super El Nino could double over the coming century, thanks to climate change. —Angelica Ang, Fortune, 28 May 2026

The uncomfortable truth is that no past or future storm, drought, or wildfire can be laid solely at El Niño’s feet, just as none can be blamed solely on climate change. —Dr. Douglas M. Hasson, Hartford Courant, 28 May 2026

Supporters of the bill as drafted say the lawsuits have no real connection to any attempt to solve climate change. —David Blackmon, Forbes.com, 27 May 2026

Tick populations are growing and spreading thanks to climate change and changed animal migration patterns. —Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 27 May 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