Snow melting agent - the “double-edged sword” of winter in northern cities

 


With the onset of winter, snow and ice-covered roads bring a lot of inconvenience to people's travel. In order to ensure traffic safety, the relevant departments often use Snow melting agent to dissolve the snow and ice. At present, spreading salt has become one of the most commonly used de-icing methods worldwide. According to statistics, more than 66 million tons of salt are used to de-ice roads worldwide every year. However, Snow melting agent also brings environmental problems that cannot be ignored.




Soil salinization is the number one problem brought about by Snow melting agents. The salt in snow melting agents seeps into the soil with the snow melting agent, leading to soil salinization, which affects plant growth and even causes vegetation death.


Water pollution is another problem that cannot be ignored. Snow melting agent flows into rivers, lakes and other water bodies with rainwater, increasing the salinity of water bodies and causing harm to aquatic organisms.


In addition, Snow melting agent will also corrode roads, bridges and other infrastructure, shortening their life period; the dust produced by some snow melting agents in the process of use can aggravate air pollution; Snow melting agents also have a corrosive effect on metal parts such as automobiles.


In order to alleviate the negative impact of Snow melting agents on the environment, people have been exploring various solutions. Some regions are gradually reducing the use of chlorinated salt snow melting agents and switching to more environmentally friendly alternatives.


It is worth mentioning that although the concept of “environmentally-friendly Snow melting agent” is gradually gaining popularity, its effectiveness still needs to be further verified.


In October 2024, the relevant state departments issued the “Beijing snow shoveling operations program (pilot) (Draft for Comments)”, which clearly puts forward "In principle,  snow melting agent will not be used! ”, which the author is quite appreciated. It's an exploration of nature-based solutions (NbS). After careful study, the CBCGDF-OceanWetlands Group submitted 5 recommendations for reference in its scientific decision-making.



Edited by: Samantha  

Contact: v10@cbcgdf.org; +8617319454776

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