thirstwave

The weather is changing, giving us new weather phenomena and requiring new terms to attach to them.  A thirstwave is one such weather event, if not created then at least exacerbated by climate change.  It is a period of at least three consecutive days of hot, dry, possibly windy weather where more water than usual is extracted from plants, the soil and waterways, and fed into the upper atmosphere. If this happens at a critical stage when crops are developing it can severely harm them so it has consequences for agriculture.

The term was coined in 2025 by American researchers Mike Hobbins and Meetpal Kukal.