global warming

noun

: an increase in the earth's atmospheric and oceanic temperatures widely predicted to occur due to an increase in the greenhouse effect resulting especially from pollution

A Russian-owned tanker … completed a journey in record time from Europe to Asia this month, auguring the future of shipping as global warming melts sea ice.

—Russell Goldman

Debates about stem cells, global warming, and alternative energy might be less contentious if the scientific issues behind them were better understood.

—Elizabeth Gettelman

The development is also meant to boost tourism in Zermatt, which, like many Alpine towns worried about the effects of global warming on winter tourism, is exploring ways to draw visitors throughout the year.

—Jim Rendon

… I think it makes a compelling case, at least for most audiences, that humans are the cause of most of the global warming that is taking place, and that unless we take quick action the consequences for our planetary home could become irreversible.

—Al Gore

Examples of global warming in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Hamilton started the sermon by pointing out that the broad majority of climate scientists agree human activity, such as burning fossil fuels, contributes to global warming by releasing heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. — Matthew Kelly, Kansas City Star, 17 Aug. 2026

These factors make its impacts somewhat of a wild card, experts say, with the effects of global warming acting in concert with El Niño to heighten the severity of heat waves and other disasters. — Andrew Freedman, CNN Money, 13 Aug. 2026

The Amazon helps regulate climate and rainfall patterns and stores vast amounts of carbon that, if released, could further accelerate global warming. — ABC News, 11 Aug. 2026

But rising ocean temperatures due to global warming are creating new habitats for this type of bacteria, which can now be found along the East Coast as far north as New York and Connecticut. — Bill Sullivan, The Conversation, 11 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1953, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for global warming

• nonconforming
• nonperforming
• brainstorming
• conforming
• deforming
• heartwarming
• informing
• performing
• reforming
• rewarming
• transforming
• forming

Kids Definition

global warming

noun

: a warming of the earth's atmosphere and oceans that is widely predicted to result from an increase in the greenhouse effect caused by air pollution