Known for it’s snowy Christmas celebrations, Moscow isn’t very white this year as the city faces among its warmest festive seasons ever. To tackle the problem, the city has been bringing in fake snow, photos of which are being shared on social media.
The Russian capital experienced its warmest December in more than a century, with the temperature climbing above 6 degree Celsius on 18 December – topping a record of 5.3C set in 1886.
To tackle the absence of snow, which is normally a staple in any photo clicked at this time of the year in the city, Moscow’s authorities have been bringing in fake snow. “With Moscow’s budget you can buy everything. Even winter,” a person joked on social media.
Moscow residents posted pictures of heaps of snow being put in Zaryadye Park and Tverskaya Street over the weekend, reported The Moscow Times.
https://twitter.com/WildWildMoscow/status/1210856614481276928
The faux snow has been brought from Moscow’s ice rinks and will be used to create snowboarding slopes, First Deputy Director of the Mayor’s Office Alexei Nemeryuk told Interfax.
The balmy December weather has affected the hibernation of the inmates at the Moscow zoo and also caused plants to flower early, reported The Guardian.
At his traditional year-end annual news conference earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted that “nobody knows” the causes of climate change. However, the president did acknowledge the consequences of global warming could be catastrophic for a country that is one of the world’s biggest producers of carbon fuel, and has a fifth of its land within the Arctic circle.