A call for consistency with the terms ‘wetter’ and ‘drier’ in climate change studies

TLDR

Hydroclimatic changes have significant environmental and societal impacts, and are commonly described in terrestrial ecosystems using the terms “wetter” and “drier,” which denote changes in water quantity or presence. The study reviews nearly 500 climate change papers to assess consistency in using “wetter” and “drier” and urges authors to explicitly state the hydroclimatic variables referenced to aid cross‑disciplinary meta‑analyses and policy application. The authors performed a systematic review of nearly 500 recent climate change studies to quantify how consistently the terms “wetter” and “drier” are applied across disciplines. The review revealed that while precipitation is the most common variable linked to “wetter” and “drier,” other hydroclimatic variables are also used inconsistently across fields, and some studies fail to define the terms.

Abstract

Abstract Ongoing and future hydroclimatic changes have large environmental and societal impacts. In terrestrial ecosystems, these changes are usually described with the terms ‘wetter’ and ‘drier’, which refer to the change in the quantity and/or presence of water, either as water fluxes or stocks. We conducted a literature review of almost 500 recent climate change studies to quantitatively investigate the consistency of the use of these terms across disciplines, regarding the hydroclimatic variables they are related to. We found that although precipitation is prevalently used to describe ‘wetter’ and ‘drier’ conditions, many other variables are also used to refer to changes in water availability between research fields, pointing to a varied perspective on the use of these terms. Some studies do not define the terms at all. In order to facilitate meta-analyses across disciplines, we therefore highlight the need to explicitly state which hydroclimatic variables authors are referring to. In this way, we hope that the terms ‘wetter’ and ‘drier’ used in scientific studies are easier to relate to hydroclimatic processes, which should facilitate the application by authorities and policy makers.