The Economist
Jul 25th 2007

Weather patterns

Precipitative

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

—