Russia: Don't Let It Snow

Apparently, snowplows and street salt just won’t cut it. Moscow’s mayor Yury Luzhkov is bringing out the big guns when it comes to fighting snow this year in Russia’s blizzard-prone capital. According an article in Time Magazine, Luzkhov’s new initiative–ringing in at just a few million dollars–will have the Russian Air Force spraying snow-bearing clouds with a fine chemical mist that will force clouds to dump out their wintry precipitation before reaching the city’s borders.

Sure, sure, Boston is no Moscow, but what do ya say, Harvard? Could this be the perfect remedy for the seemingly campus-wide epidemic that is our love-hate relationship with snow? With Cambridge getting its first dousing of the white stuff on Sunday–the third earliest date of measurable accumulation according to National Weather Service (October 10, 1979 takes the cake)–we asked students whether they welcomed the sign of an early winter with delight or vexation. Find out what they had to say after the jump.

“I love it!” said Rebecca Gruskin. “Maybe it’s because I am from Minnesota but snow is normal and comforting to me.”

“It’s exciting but only up to a certain point,” said Nicole Sliva. “The snow itself can be fun but the cold associated with it…not so much.”

“It’s just really early,” said Boston native Alex Zhu, referring to the weekend’s precipitation. “It’s not even Halloween yet.”

As far as responding to Moscow mayor’s innovative strategy, the overwhelming majority of students gave a thumbs-down to the idea, wishing to spare Boston skies of the misty chemical assault.

“I personally object to such an idea,” said Ivan Bochkov, who was born in Moscow. “Weather over there is brutal–it causes a huge mess for traffic and pedestrians–but it would be a huge waste of resources to implement in Cambridge.”

“Honestly, hearing about [the Moscow initiative] makes me really angry,” said Christine Reed, who said that we probably shouldn’t go around stopping things from precipitating naturally.

Flyby hears you, Christine. Perhaps the clouds should just be left to do their thing. After all, who are we to mess with four billion years of the water cycle?

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons