Damage
See also: Category:BlizzardsWhen heavy, wet snow with a snow-water equivalent (SWE) ratio of between 6:1 and 12:1 (in extreme cases, as heavy as 4:1) and a weight in excess of 10 pounds per square foot (~50 kg/m2) piles onto trees or electricity lines – particularly if the trees have full leaves or are not adapted to snow – significant damage may occur on a scale usually associated with hurricanes. An avalanche can occur upon a sudden thermal or mechanical impact upon snow that has accumulated on a mountain, which causes the snow to rush downhill en masse. Preceding an avalanche is a phenomenon known as an avalanche wind caused by the approaching avalanche itself, which adds to its destructive potential. Large amounts of snow which accumulate on top of man-made structures can lead to structural failure. During snowmelt, acidic precipitation which previously fell into the snow pack is released, which harms marine life.
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Famous quotes containing the word damage:
“I learned early to understand that there is no such condition in human affairs as absolute truth. There is only truth as people see it, and truth, even in fact, may be kaleidoscopic in its variety. The damage such perception did to me I have felt ever since ... I could never belong entirely to one side of any question.”
—Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973)
“Instead of asking—”How much damage will the work in question bring about?” why not ask—”How much good? How much joy?””
—Henry Miller (1891–1980)
“For most Northerners, Texas is the home of real men. The cowboys, the rednecks, the outspoken self-made right-wing millionaires strike us as either the best or worst examples of American manliness.... The ideal is not an illusion nor is it contemptible, no matter what damage it may have done. Many people who scorn it in conversation want to submit to it in bed. Those who believe machismo reeks of violence alone choose to forget it once stood for honor as well.”
—Edmund White (b. 1940)