It’s Not Easy Being Green--Unless You Live Near Moscow

Spring came to the Moscow area with such force this year that it turned the sky and the rain green.

Radio Moscow reported Sunday that Soviet scientists had unraveled the mystery of a green sky and green rain noticed in the Moscow region on May 5.

It said an analysis indicated 80% of the sediment from the rain was pollen.

“This is explained by the unusually late spring this year,” the radio said. “A great number of trees and bushes have bloomed . . . within a very short period.

“The gusty wind raised masses of green pollen in the air which caused the extraordinary phenomenon,” it said.

The government newspaper Izvestia said scientists from the Moscow Meteorological Center began an investigation after receiving calls about the phenomenon from five separate areas around the Soviet capital.