MOSCOW — The city’s government, led by long-reigning Mayor Yuri Luzh kov, has indicated that clearing the capital’s streets of snow is too expensive. Instead, the city is weighing a plan to seed the clouds with liquid nitrogen or dry ice to keep heavy snow from falling inside its limits.
Word of the proposal has sent a shudder through Moscow and piqued the surrounding region, which would receive the brunt of the displaced snowfall, and has raised concerns among ecologists.
“I was very surprised, because (the mayor) never even asked us,” said Alexei Yablokov, who sits on the mayor’s ecological council and has concerns about the proposal, including the environmental effects and pressure on surrounding villages. “We never discussed it at all.”
The city government says it hasn’t reached a decision. But scientists at the Central Aerological Observatory say they expect the cloud-seeding plan to go forward.
They already seed the clouds for political effect, clearing the skies over Moscow twice a year to ensure sun-drenched celebrations of patriotic holidays.
It’s unlikely that Muscovites would agree to forgo snow altogether. During the long, dark months of Russian winter, the flicker of clean flakes against the sky is one of the few graces.
But Luzhkov is prepared to choke off any particularly massive snowfalls, which usually force the city to unleash battalions of snowplows and armies of workers hoisting ice picks and shovels. The city government estimates it can save more than $13 million with cloud-seeding.
“In the movies, the snow looks very beautiful with St. Basil’s Cathedral in the background,” says Aleksandr Azarov, the senior scientist at the observatory. “But this snow costs a pretty penny to Moscow authorities.” Los Angeles Times
