Memory about weather

I have a habit of taking pictures of the view through the window of my dorm. I tried to set the camera angle all the same when I execute each scene. Those pictures contain the landscape information of NYC as well as a sense of the flow of time, besides, there is another function of this set of images, which is to record every weather changes in NYC.

The weather in NYC treats me like a cozy glasshouse treats a little flower. You will know why I say this by looking at my wardrobe: all of my clothes are prepared for spring and fall. The quality of the air is always great that even I live in a forset build with concrete, I could feel the scent of nature. The air moves so gently at a moderated speed. They can help you wipe out your sweat without adding any specks of dirt to your skin. Within the breezy airflow, there might be some raindrops take a free ride, however, most of the time, those droplets are soo small that people do not have to put up an umbrella. There is no need to prepare for winter because the weather here is very gentle compared to that in my hometown.

 

I came from the north-east part of China, Jilin Province, Jilin. Geologically it is very close to Russia. Jilin is a beautiful city surrounded by stream and hills. I asked my Grandma about the story of Songhua River –  a river that Jilin City is famous for. She told me that the river is the only river which is not frozen in the whole territory of north-east China. In Jilin, the temperature can drop to up to -40 celsius. How is possible that a river cannot freeze at such low temperature? My grandma said, thanks to the Fengman hydropower station. That dam is the first large-scale hydropower dam in  Asia. The construction of the power station is a long story. It all starts in 1937,  Chinese workers are forced to build the dam under the Japan Military forces. It takes almost 20 years to finish the project.  As the dam was raised, my grandma grew up. She witnessed half of the Songhua river become a lake later called “Songhua Lake”. Water fall from the top of the dam and the electricity generated can power the entire Jilin City.  After the water smashed into the Songhua River, it rises in temperature, almost 20 degree higher than the air temperature in winter.

A new type of “weather” is generated by the water dam. We called it “霧凇”(wusong). Songhua river has a high temperature, so the water vapor will rise until they touch a hard surface. There are a lot of trees on the two sides of the river, so the water vapor freezes instantly when they touch the tree branches. It is very beautiful that all the trees become white and shiny in a very cold winter morning in Jilin City.

Image Source : http://www.mafengwo.cn/travel-scenic-spot/mafengwo/21910.html

 

I lived in a city where is over-constructed by human beings, a forest made of concrete. How will the weather be like 20 years later in NYC? Remember, construction of a dam can completely change the ecosystem, although now what you can see is only more swimmers in a winter morning in Songhua River, we do not know what is going to come next.

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