When the Giver transfers the first memory of a sled ride to Jonas, Jonas experiences snow and hills for the first time. After receiving the memory, Jonas asks what happened to snow and the hills in their community and the Giver responds by telling him climate control dramatically changed the environment of their community. According to the Giver, leading scientists in their community used climate control to make treacherous, unfavorable weather like snow obsolete. The Giver explains to Jonas that snow limited agricultural periods and made it hard to grow crops. The severe weather also made transportation difficult, which is why unfavorable weather like snow became obsolete with the inception of Sameness. In addition to making severe weather obsolete, hills and other treacherous terrain were eliminated to make conveyance more convenient. Once Sameness was established, climate control significantly altered the community's weather and environment to make life easier and more convenient. Tragically, Sameness also eliminated the spontaneity and excitement of life as originally intended.
After experiencing an exhilarating memory of a sleigh ride, Jonas wants to know what happened to all the snow. The Giver tells him that society used the technology of climate control to get rid of it, as snow wasn't deemed practical. As society moved towards Sameness, it wanted to be able to rely on regular weather patterns to make it easier to grow crops and transport goods. Therefore, climate control was used to eliminate snow completely.
It might have seemed like a good idea at the time, but getting rid of snow—indeed the whole idea of climate control in general—has simply made the society in which Jonas lives all the more boring and monotonous, just like many other alterations in their dystopian society.
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