Oct 24, 2009
Hard to Believe
Steven Levitt on Freakonomics Blog asks:
Will There Be Snow in Moscow This Winter?
Not if the mayor of Moscow Yury Luzhkov has his way. According to Simon Shuster at TIME magazine,
For just a few million dollars, the mayor’s office will hire the Russian Air Force to spray a fine chemical mist over the clouds before they reach the capital, forcing them to dump their snow outside the city. Authorities say this will be a boon for Moscow, which is typically covered with a blanket of snow from November to March. Road crews won’t need to constantly clear the streets, and traffic — and quality of life — will undoubtedly improve.