Black Snow Falls in Siberia

While much of North America was preparing for a white winter wonderland, black snow was falling in Siberia.

 

This phenomenon was observed in Kemerovo in southwest Siberia, the country’s coal-mining center. While many residents in the cities of Prokopyevsk, Kiselyovsk and Leninsk were quick to point the finger at a nearby coal plant, The Siberian Times reports that the plant’s failure to sufficiently filter fumes is not the only cause of the problem, but that “coal boilers, car exhausts and other coal-burning plants were also to blame.”

 

IFLScience.com points out that, not only is this not the first time this has happened in Kemerovo, occurrences of black snow are popping up outside of Russia as well, including in Temirtau, an iron-mining region in central Kazakhstan.

 

Residents not only took their concerns regarding pollution to social media, but also submitted a letter to Aliya Nazabayeva, head of the Association of Ecological Organisations of Kazakhstan and youngest daughter of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, writing “The snow acts as a litmus test, revealing the frightening scale of these harmful emissions.” Adding, “All that dust from the plant ends up in our lungs, and in the lungs of our kids,” according to IFLScience.com.

 

Read more and view photos of the soiled snow in The Siberian Times.  

Image Credit nataseife and Siberian Times