On 23 July 2007, Xuebin Zhang et al. of Environment Canada published an article in Nature, in which they present  model predictions that indicate that anthropogenic climate change has led to an increased chance of rainfall at higher latitudes, a lower chance of rainfall at sub-tropical latitudes and possibly a rearangement of rainfall patterns in the tropics.

In connection to the current heavy rainfall and flooding in the United Kingdom, Prof. dr. Lucas Reijnders, Chair of the IBED group of Environmental Sciences, was asked to comment on the main findings of the article in the Dutch television news show NOVA on 23 July 2007. In addition, he wrote an article about the issue for the popular scientific website Kennislink.nl. This website is an initiative of the Dutch Ministery of Education, Culture and Science, aimed at explaining topical scientific issues to the general public.