Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - global warming

 noun  Date: 1969 an increase in the earth's atmospheric and oceanic temperatures widely predicted to occur due to an increase in the greenhouse effect resulting especially from pollution GLOBAL  adjective  Date: 1640  1. spherical  2. of, relating to, or involving the entire world ; worldwide a ~ system of communication; also of or relating to a celestial body (as the moon)  3. of, relating to, or applying to a whole (as a mathematical function or a computer program) ; universal a ~ search of a file  • ~ly adverb