MISCONCEPTIONS CONCERNING THE WEATHER 129 



that the influence of the moon, the planets and the stars (not including 

 the sun) is practically nil, when terrestrial weather is considered. It 

 should be remembered, in this connection, that heat is the fundamental 

 force determining weather — the form of energy outweighing all others 

 combined. When it is stated that the sum total of all the heat energy 

 received from all heavenly bodies (not including the sun) is so slight 

 that one of the most delicate of instruments is required for its measure- 

 ment, it is apparent that their influence upon our weather is negligible. 

 The moon, about which most misconceptions of this character center, is 

 without doubt the direct cause of ocean and atmospheric tides, and there 

 are places along certain coasts where ocean tides produce periodic tidal 

 breezes. Aside from the indirect effects here enumerated astronomical 

 influence upon weather is practically of no consequence. The untruth 

 of the proverb which states that the moon tends to drive away the clouds 

 is explained partly by the fact that a clearing of the sky at night is not 

 ordinarily observed unless the moon is above the horizon, and partly by 

 the fact that after sunset there is a cessation of the ascending currents 

 which result in the formation of clouds of the cumulus type, the clouds 

 already formed soon dissipating. 



Contrary to a fairly general impression, there is no apparent rela- 

 tion between earthquakes and the weather. Scriptural allusions to de- 

 struction of life and property often associate earthquakes and violent 

 storms as though they were of common origin, and the idea has per- 

 sisted, to some extent, even in modern writings. In general, it may be 

 said that earthquakes are caused by forces at work within the earth, or 

 at least beneath its surface, such as the slipping of the crust along a 

 fault plane, or the movement of molten matter or steam beneath the 

 hard crust. On the other hand, weather changes result from the effects 

 of forces at work within the atmosphere itself, primarily as a product 

 of energy coming through space from the sun. Various investigators 

 have attempted to discover a relation between barometric pressure of 

 the atmosphere, earth tides and local disturbances of the crust. Aside 

 from this possible indirect relationship there is no Imown coordination 

 of earthquakes and the weather. 



Nor is there any marked relation between magnetic phenomena and 

 the weather. Magnetic storms, or disturbances in the magnetic state 

 of the earth, frequently occur without any apparent effect upon the 

 weather. That there is a relation between magnetic phenomena in the 

 earth, auroras, and solar disturbances, particularly sunspots, there can 

 no longer be any doubt. The aurora borealis, seen in northern latitudes, 

 and the aurora australis, seen in southern latitudes, are believed to be 

 caused by electrical discharges in the rarefied strata of the earth's upper 

 atmosphere. Aside from the visible manifestations of such discharges, 

 observers have sometimes noticed sounds, and, upon rare occasions, odors 



