climate canary

English

Etymology

Similar to the miner's canary, from which the term is derived.

Noun

climate canary (plural climate canaries)

  1. A species that is affected by an environmental danger prior to other species, thus serving as an early warning system for the other species with regard to a danger.

Usage notes

Climate canary was chosen as the most useful word of 2006 by the American Dialect Society.

References
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