Sunday 29 January 2017

#MySundayphoto #SundaySnap 29/1/17


Last week, the temperatures rarely got above zero so when we went out geocaching, the kids were delighted to find a patch of frost in the grass - it was the nearest we've got to snow so they had fun flinging it about and melting it in their hands. I thought it was a bit strange that there was only one white patch in amongst the green grass, but I'd also noticed that there was just one tree covered in white in our local park too. I assumed it was some weird climatic phenomenon.


However, last week was also a big air pollution peak, with public transport free for four days in an attempt to try to reduce the numbers of cars of the roads and therefore pollution levels. It turns out that the two were linked. What we had wasn't natural snow, it was "pollution snow", also called "urban snow" or "industrial snow", which is created when subzero temperatures combine with air humidity (fog or low level cloud) and polluted air. The particles of pollution become coated in a layer of ice and fall as snow. This article explains it very well.


If you look closely, you can see that the ice particles are chunkier than normal, like long needles rather than regular hexagons. Fortunately the kids were none the wiser and still had fun but it makes you think ... I'm dreaming of a white Christmas ? Maybe not then !

Sunday SnapOneDad3Girls


15 comments:

  1. oh wow, I've never heard of pollution snow, how strange. I'll be checking all ice and snow now to see if I can see the difference.
    #sundaysnap

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    1. Apparently freezing fog, subzero temperatures and air pollution are the key factors, so if you get all three, there's a high chance you'll get it !

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  2. we had some snow too down here but we didn't play out. I am not a big fan lol #sundayphoto

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    Replies
    1. Aww the kids were really hoping to get some over Christmas !

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  3. Bbbrrr this makes me feel so cold. We've had no snow this year

    Thank you for linking up

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    1. It snowed once here but the ground was wet so it didn't lay :(

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  4. Oh wow I've never heard of pollution snow before, as you explain it it all makes sense, I hope you have some cleaner air to follow soon.

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    1. Same here - although it's warmed up so we won't get this weird snow any more anyway !

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  5. I had never heard of this either. I'm guessing we are lucky as we certainly have had the cold and fog but no snow #MySundayPhoto

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    1. Sounds like you have cleaner air, which is always reassuring ! :)

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  6. That's a new thing on me Cheryl. At least you'll know for the future when it's not covering everything !

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    Replies
    1. I suppose it helps clear the air possibly, if it freezes the pollution and brings it down to ground level ? Not sure !

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    2. Now that is a thought! Logically my head is saying yes but I'm not scientific. Have a great week. Shaz

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  7. This is so scary! My local bus has been cut from from every 20 minutes to 1 an hour from yesterday. Just going to mean more car trips which isn't good for urban pollution levels round here.

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