THE EFFECT OF CLIMATE AND WEATHER 32 1 



rest of US. II all this is true it puts a wholly new aspect on 

 the problems of acclimatization and the geographic location 

 of the origin of man. 



THE GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF HEALTH AND ENERGY 



The data now before us enable us to gain an approximate 

 idea of the effect of climate upon health throughout the 

 world. Hundreds of experiments, the work of thousands of 

 factory hands, and the deaths of millions of persons, as we 

 have seen, enable us to determine the approximate degree of 

 health and energy under any given combinations of tem- 

 perature, humidity and variability. On the basis of weather 

 records it is therefore possible to construct a map showing 

 the approximate degree of health that would be enjoyed by 

 the white race in any part of the world if climate were the 

 sole determinant of health. Such a map. Figure 8, shows two 

 main areas where the climate approaches the optimum, 

 namely the northeastern quarter of the United States from 

 the Atlantic to beyond the Mississippi River, and the 

 parts of Europe centering around the North Sea. Other 

 minor centers are the Pacific Coast of the United States, New 

 Zealand, Japan, and probably Chili, although the South 

 American portion of the map is not very rehable. The 

 whole map is, indeed, tentative and should be revised as 

 soon as possible. Nevertheless there is no reason to expect 

 any important charge in the main outlines. 



In a similar map for tropical people the optimum areas 

 would be located a little nearer the equator than in Figure 8, 

 but the general aspect of the map would be changed only a 

 little. The tropical regions and continental interiors would 

 still be low and the warmer parts of the stormy temperate 

 zone would be high. Another and highly significant feature 

 would also still be evident, namely the decline of health and 

 energy toward the centers of the continents even in the most 

 favorable latitudes. The reason for this is partly the dryness of 

 the interiors and their extreme changes of temperature at 

 certain times coupled with other periods of very little change 

 from day to day. These latter conditions apply especially to 

 central Asia because of its relative lack of cyclonic storms 



