BBC News at One, main headline 'Heavy snow threatens further disruption'. With Global Warming having being discussed at Copenhagen a few weeks ago it's rather ironic that major disruption across the country is being caused by snow and cold icy roads. As I trampled my way through the snow laid pathways at my University a thought occured to me. How do countries with considerably more snowfall than we do cope? Can we learn anything from these countries? We don't exactly live in the tropics so why does winter weather always cause such chaos?
These questions are always asked when the country has a flurrish of snow for at a maximum a couple of weeks in a year. The problem is, do people want to raise a budget dealing with these events with a problem that is only a fleeting one? In the end that could mean more taxes, maybe the possibility of buying a second set of wheels for your car with studded tyres. I can't see people rushing out to buy a second set of tyres for a couple of days in a year when it may snow heavily!
These questions are always asked when the country has a flurrish of snow for at a maximum a couple of weeks in a year. The problem is, do people want to raise a budget dealing with these events with a problem that is only a fleeting one? In the end that could mean more taxes, maybe the possibility of buying a second set of wheels for your car with studded tyres. I can't see people rushing out to buy a second set of tyres for a couple of days in a year when it may snow heavily!
The more I thought this through, the conclusion is simple, that it is not economically viable to spend money on drastic measures in areas that have very little snow.
Speaking to a friend who used to live in Norway, were heavy snowfall occurs far more regularly he added that, "Having lived there I can assure you that the first snowfall of the year does bring chaos!". With more money spent on equipment in Norway he added, " After a day or two it all starts running smoothly, but Norweigans complain just as much as we do".
Differences in equipment for Norweigans are that all vehicles must have "winter tyres" these are compulsory. "Studded ones are often used, but in the towns if you use them you have to pay a 'stud tax' per wheel as they do damage to the road surface if the snow is thin or cleared".
So as much as headlines tell us the Britain is being 'paralysed' by the snow make interesting news there isn't much we can expect to be done about the snow. In effect the jobs of gritters etc are crucial and we should congratulate them on the job that they do, as there is no other economically viable solution for an extremely short term 'disaster'.
Nick Coughlan
05/01/10
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