China creates Tibetan snow as glaciers melt

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BEIJING, April 18 (Reuters) - China has created artificial snow for the first time in Tibet to head off possible drought, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday, months after experts warned of melting glaciers in the Himalayan region.

The Tibet meteorological station had performed a "successful artificial snowfall operation" last week in northern Tibet, about 4,500 metres above sea level, the agency said.

"The first artificial snowfall proves it is possible to change the weather through human efforts on the world's highest plateau," it quoted Yu Zhongshui, an engineer with the meteorological station, as saying.

The snowfall was measured at 2.2 mm and the accumulated snow on the ground reached one cm after the artificial snowfall.

"To launch artificial precipitation can help alleviate drought on the grassland in northern Tibet," Yu was quoted as saying.

Chinese scientists have warned that rising temperatures on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau will melt glaciers, dry up major Chinese rivers and trigger drought, sandstorms and desertification.