Tibet cloud seeding proposed to solve water shortage

A group of scientists are proposing cloud seeding on a massive scale on the Tibetan plateau to create more rain to flow into rivers in China’s arid north, the South China Morning Post reports. Other researchers, however, have cast doubts on the project saying it is likely to be doomed to failure. Intensive cloud seeding in the skies above Tibet and the neighboring region could create more than five billion cubic meters of water a year in rain to flow ultimately into the Yellow River, according to a feasibility study funded by the Qinghai provincial government. That would amount to nearly twice Beijing’s annual water consumption. Scientists likened the “Sky River” project as the atmospheric counterpart to the Yangtze River water diversion project.