Читать книгу Shaped by Snow. Defending the Future of Winter онлайн

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Mathematician Johannes Kepler became intrigued with snowflakes in 1611. He was headed to a New Year’s party when he noticed snowflakes landing on his jacket. He marveled at their delicate structures, mystified by why each had six points. Kepler hypothesized a number of theories, but never figured out the reason behind their starry shapes. His obsession earned his book of musings, officially titled The Six-Cornered Snowflake, the nickname “Kepler’s Unsolved Problem.”

The human-snow relationship is an unsolved problem. Some of us love it, live for it, while others are indifferent or hate it. Some have never and will never see it. Too much carbon in the atmosphere will cause snow to disappear from certain landscapes, yet our global climate relies on its cooling and reflective properties. The watersheds of the American West depend on it. Many of the cultures around the Wasatch Mountain Range in Utah developed because of its presence during the winter. I am a product of it, since my four grandparents and my parents all met and created lives together through snow.