global warming
- an increase in the earth's average atmospheric temperature that causes corresponding changes in climate and that may result from the greenhouse effect.
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Origin of global warming
First recorded in 1975–80
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for global warming
Contemporary Examples
The last straw was Heartland putting up a billboard with a picture of the Unabomber as emblematic of global-warming believers.
The "deniers" are dangerously absolute in their rejection of global-warming claims.
“Global-warming momentum was dead long before Climategate happened,” said Marc Morano.
One of the most common landfill gases, methane, acts like carbon dioxide on juice, with 23 times the global-warming potential.
global warming
- an increase in the average temperature worldwide believed to be caused by the greenhouse effect
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for global warming
n.
by 1983 as the name for a condition of overall rising temperatures and attendant consequences as a result of human activity. Originally theoretical, popularized as a reality from 1989.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
global warming
- An increase in the average temperature of the Earth's atmosphere, especially a sustained increase great enough to cause changes in the global climate. The Earth has experienced numerous episodes of global warming through its history, and currently appears to be undergoing such warming. The present warming is generally attributed to an increase in the greenhouse effect , brought about by increased levels of greenhouse gases, largely due to the effects of human industry and agriculture. Expected long-term effects of current global warming are rising sea levels, flooding, melting of polar ice caps and glaciers, fluctuations in temperature and precipitation, more frequent and stronger El Niños and La Niñas, drought, heat waves, and forest fires. See more at greenhouse effect.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
global warming
The term attached to the notion that the Earth's temperature is increasing due to the greenhouse effect.
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Note
Whether global warming is actually happening is a subject of scientific debate.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.