climate breakdown

American  

[klahy-mit breyk-doun] / ˈklaɪ mɪt ˌbreɪk daʊn /

noun

Climatology.

1. the collective effects of harmful and potentially irreversible trends in climate, specifically those resulting from unchecked global warming.

   In September 2023, the United Nations announced that “climate breakdown has begun.”

---

Etymology

Origin of climate breakdown

First recorded in 2000–05

Example Sentences

Now, there is certainly a feeling of never having been more aware of our mortality collectively — the pandemic, of course, and facing the ongoing existential threat of climate breakdown.

From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2025

Any food produced here is increasingly vulnerable to climate breakdown, partly due to poor soils caused by chemical-intensive monocropping.

From Salon • Dec. 11, 2024

There are 16 kids who brought the lawsuit, and the majority of them actually testified and gave these really personal, really moving testimonies about the ways that climate breakdown has threatened their ways of life.

From Slate • Jul. 30, 2023

"The parties' manifestos will have pledges to deal with climate breakdown," Packham said.

From BBC • Jul. 24, 2023

“We want to have this conversation, and to bring it around to our demand about what we need to do to avoid climate breakdown and collapse,” Ms. Carrington said.

From New York Times • Oct. 26, 2022