Snow: The Real Stuff; The Artificial Stuff

Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Earth & Space Science, Earth Systems

Ed Hessler 

The Beijing winter Olympic games are in a region of China that receives little winter snow. Artificial snow is prominent in reporting from the games with some athletes blaming poor performance or even danger to life and limb on the human-made stuff.

So what is the difference between it and the real stuff?. Peter Veals (University of Utah) is a reliable source. He is an atmospheric science specializing in mountain weather and snow, an avid skier and the co-founder of a snowmaking startup. 

Here is a primer in The Conversation.