The Economist

Jul 25th 2007

Weather patterns - Precipitation

MANKIND is influencing how much it rains, according to researchers led by Xuebin Zhang of Environment Canada. More rain and snow is falling in Canada, Britain and northern Europe, two-thirds of which is attributable to human activities. Britain is suffering one of its wettest summers ever, with severe flooding in England. More rain is also falling in areas immediately south of the equator including Brazil, southern Africa, Indonesia and Australia. Nearly all of this is caused by mankind. But countries immediately north of the equator, in Africa, India and parts of China, are getting less water. The researchers compared historical records of rainfall last century with computer simulations of climate change. The work is published in this week's Nature.

AFP/Nature