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
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
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
Kenneth Brower Examples of climate change in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Experts say that's because climate change has increasingly led to early snow melt in Canada, which leaves behind dry land that is fuel for large wildfires.
—Maia Pandey, jsonline.com, 22 July 2025
For ten years, youth plaintiffs had argued that government actions causing climate change violated their generation’s constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property.
—Marianne Krasny, Forbes.com, 22 July 2025
Some have calculated that in a worst-case scenario, climate change could eventually redistribute water in a way that would make the days milliseconds longer.
—Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR, 22 July 2025
For the most part, the bacterial infections usually occur in Gulf Coast states, but in recent years, reports of Vibrio vulnificus have started to be seen further North as climate change fuels warmer oceans.
—Joyce Orlando, Nashville Tennessean, 21 July 2025
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Maia Pandey, jsonline.com, 22 July 2025
For ten years, youth plaintiffs had argued that government actions causing climate change violated their generation’s constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property.
—Marianne Krasny, Forbes.com, 22 July 2025
Some have calculated that in a worst-case scenario, climate change could eventually redistribute water in a way that would make the days milliseconds longer.
—Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR, 22 July 2025
For the most part, the bacterial infections usually occur in Gulf Coast states, but in recent years, reports of Vibrio vulnificus have started to be seen further North as climate change fuels warmer oceans.
—Joyce Orlando, Nashville Tennessean, 21 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for climate change
Cite this Entry
“Climate change.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/climate%20change. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
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