CLIMATE CHANGE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does climate change mean? 

• CLIMATE CHANGE (noun)
  The noun CLIMATE CHANGE has 1 sense:

1. a change in the world's climate

  Familiarity information: CLIMATE CHANGE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CLIMATE CHANGE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A change in the world's climate

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Synonyms:

climate change; global climate change

Hypernyms ("climate change" is a kind of...):

temperature change (a process whereby the degree of hotness of a body (or medium) changes)

 Context examples 

More recently, the combined effects of commercial krill fishing, climate change, and the recovery of seal and whale populations may have drastically decreased the abundance of krill.

(Whaling and climate change lead to 100 years of feast or famine for Antarctic penguins, National Science Foundation)

But he said the episode should alert doctors to the possible health effects of events related to climate change.

(Australian bushfire smoke drifts to South America, SciDev.Net)

Global change — including climate change, pollution and other widespread environmental alterations — is transforming plant species in grasslands, and not always in the way scientists expected, a new study reveals.

(Environmental change is triggering an identity switch in grasslands, National Science Foundation)

The researchers worked on a tidal marsh called the "Global Change Research Wetland," home to one of the world's longest-running field experiments on climate change.

(High carbon dioxide can create 'shrinking stems' in marshes, National Science Foundation)

The researchers hope this information can help reduce loss of global biodiversity by informing conservation actions that include consideration of the effects of climate change.

(Nearly 40% of plant species are very rare, and vulnerable to climate change, National Science Foundation)

Climate experts think that climate change will bring increasingly frequent and severe heat waves and extreme weather events, as well as a rise in sea levels.

(Climate Change, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

The findings have implications for the impact of a possible future biodiversity crisis driven by climate change and a warming planet.

(Mass extinction of land and sea biodiversity 250 million years ago not simultaneous, National Science Foundation)

It's one example of the surprises climate change has in store, Myers said.

(Planet-Warming Gases Make Some Food Less Nutritious, Study Says, Steve Baragona/VOA)

"With this improvement, we will be able to make our models more realistic and better able to predict this aspect of climate change's impact on our oceans."

(Study reveals new patterns of key ocean nutrient, National Science Foundation)

One idea for improving the models is to base forest responses to climate change on how trees die in response to heat, drought and other stresses.

(What's killing trees during droughts?, National Science Foundation)