climate change

[ klahy-mit cheynj ]

noun

1. a long-term change in the earth's climate, especially a change due to an increase in the average atmospheric temperature:

   Melting glaciers imply that life in the Arctic is affected by climate change.

Word History and Origins

Origin of climate change¹

First recorded in 1980–85

Example Sentences

I had been investigating climate change as a new driver of both large-scale migration around the world and of potential conflict.

From Salon

Crusius’ manifesto was striking because he considered the crushing squeeze of environmental degradation — the very changes that would be amplified by climate change — on communities, but from the opposite perspective.

From Salon

But there was something even more significant: For a generation, conservatives — not just the far right, which Crusius appeared to identify with — had propelled the notion that climate change was a hoax fabricated so the government could impose new restrictions on the economy and society.

From Salon

Yet Crusius hadn’t denied climate change at all.

From Salon

The people I spoke with largely said that climate change was real and urgent.

From Salon