My point was that words and tags that exist now (like “seasonal” or "intermittent=yes”) may not mean or actually don’t mean quite what they used to, because of climate change. These differing uses of existing tags are “becoming different” or have “become different” right now, not in the future. OSM may need to redefine or modify tags which use words that assume a kind of “annual seasonality” which likely does not exist any longer — at least in some places.
I made this post to agree with Tod’s broadening of the topic (North American examples given, which are local and familiar to me) in the interests of achieving more unified, comprehensive tagging strategies for what are not only a relatively complex set of attributes, but a more worldwide approach to a wide variety of landscapes (natural areas, affected by geological / hydrological / ecological, sometimes plant-life-based processes). I did so with a full understanding that “OSM maps what is here and now.” The expertise of “how OSM does, might or should tag” often rests with people who post here. However, it may be that this list benefits from the (especially modern) perspective of geologists, hydrologists or other landuse experts who could offer some perspective on how land and water areas are classified. And importantly, how climate change actually does change these classifications. The changes which might ensue are not necessarily trivial, and likely include changes for both the present and future. Today, it is prudent to be forward-looking, even if tagging we might craft is only preparatory in nature. > On Feb 12, 2023, at 1:04 AM, Warin <61sundow...@gmail.com> wrote: > On 12/2/23 11:13, stevea wrote: >> On Feb 11, 2023, at 3:53 PM, Graeme Fitzpatrick <graemefi...@gmail.com> >> wrote: >>> On Sun, 12 Feb 2023 at 05:10, Martin Koppenhoefer <dieterdre...@gmail.com> >>> wrote: >>> A wetland is a land area that is saturated with water, either permanently >>> or seasonally” >>> >>> But does "seasonally" include "maybe once every 20 years"? >> Climate change (being real, humans on Earth do experience climate change >> right now) makes words like "intermittent" (to describe stream flow) and >> "seasonally" (about whether a wetland or playa has surface water, possibly >> over dusty, sandy, "soil" or raw earth annually or occasionally or >> almost-perpetually-but-not-always...) pretty goopy (wet, plastic, runny...) >> themselves. Assumptions change, words defined in one era become less precise >> over years. This is normal language evolution, btw. Sometimes years and >> decades, sometimes many centuries. I find it interesting how climate change >> does this, and it does. >> >> In short: it's hard to say what words about "changing, yet often >> predictable cycles of weather" mean when we're in the midst of changes about >> what "weather" means. It might seem like "doomed to failure" here, but >> languages adjust, sometimes in poetic, beautiful ways. And what is tagging >> but another language? > > > OSM maps what is here now. And these 'dry swamps' exist here and now. > > What OSM wetlands evolve into in the future is a problem for the future of > OSM and not something to waste time over now. _______________________________________________ Tagging mailing list Tagging@openstreetmap.org https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/tagging
