Artificial glaciers stave off drought in Kyrgyzstan

In the Tian-Shan mountains of Kyrgyzstan, villagers have made an artificial glacier to provide water for their drought-hit farms.

In the Tian-Shan mountains of Kyrgyzstan, villagers have made an artificial glacier to provide water for their drought-hit farms.

Standing on the ice hillock, farmer Erkinbek Kaldanov said he was optimistic about harnessing nature to counteract climate change.

"We won't have any more problems with water," said the farmer, who was worried for his sheep last year after some unusual temperature spikes.

"When the glacier melts, there will be enough water for the livestock and to water the land in Syn-Tash," the surrounding district, he said.

The glacier currently measures five metres (16 feet) high and about 20 metres long. At the height of winter it was 12 metres tall.

Local residents made it over a period of two weeks in autumn by re-directing water from the peaks of Tian-Shan, which tower more than 4,000 metres high in northern Kyrgyzstan.

Kaldanov and others are being forced to adapt since natural glaciers in Central Asia - the main water source for the region - are slowly disappearing due to global heating.