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

Chosen as the most useful word of 2006 by the American Dialect Society.

Hypernyms

• bioindicator

References

• American Dialect Society, Word of the Year 2006