Craig observed that δO and δH isotopic composition of cold meteoric water from sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctica are much more negative than that in warm meteoric water from the tropic. A correlation between temperature (T) and δO was proposed later in the 1970s. Such correlation is then applied to study surface temperature change over time. The δO composition in ancient meteoric water, preserved in ice cores, can also be collected and applied to reconstruct paleoclimate.
A meteoric water line can be calculated for a given area, named as local meteoric water line (LMWL), and used as a baseline within that area. Local meteoric water line can differ from the global meteoric water line in slope and intercept. Such deviated slope and intercept is a result largely from humidity. In 1964, the concept of deuterium excess d (d=δH - 8δO) was proposed. Later, a parameter of deuterium excess as a function of humidity has been established, as such the isotopic composition in local meteoric water can be applied to trace local relative humidity, study local climate and used as a tracer of climate change.
In hydrogeology, the δO and δH composition in groundwater are often used to study the origin of groundwater and groundwater recharge.
Recently it has been shown that, even taking into account the standard deviation related to instrumental errors and the natural variability of the amount-weighted precipitations, the LMWL calculated with the EIV (error in variable regression) method has no differences on the slope compared to classic OLSR (ordinary least square regression) or other regression methods. However, for certain purposes such as the evaluation of the shifts from the line of the geothermal waters, it would be more appropriate to calculate the so-called "prediction interval" or "error wings" related to LMWL.