Tibet experiences third warmest winter in seven years

BEIJING: Influenced by global warming, Tibet has experienced its third warmest winter in the last seven years between December 2006 and February 2007, with a temperature rise of nine degrees in some areas, a local meteorologist said on Tuesday.

Tibet reported an average temperature of minus three degrees Celsius between December and February, up 1.4 degrees from an average of minus 4.4 degrees Celsius, spokeswoman and deputy head of the regional meteorological bureau, Ma Yanxian
said.

"The average temperature in some parts of the Nagqu Prefecture, central Tibet, soared nine degrees Celsius from the historical benchmark of minus 4.4, the highest since 1965," she said.

The temperature in the regional capital of Lhasa also rose by six degrees.

Ma said most parts of Tibet reported temperature rises ranging from 0.6 to 2.9 degrees Celsius during the three-month period.

The China Meteorological Administration's definition of a warm winter is a temperature rise of 0.5 degrees above the historical average.

Meanwhile, most parts of Tibet reported a 50 per cent decline in rainfall, which measured less than one millimetre at 17 of the region's 32 meteorological stations between early December and the end of February.

The warm and arid climate were to blame for several forest fires in Qamdo and Nyingchi prefectures and were likely to increase the risks of plant diseases and insect pests in the summer, Ma was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.