GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NORTHERN SEAS 35 



This undoubtedly points to the instability of the saline conditions of the 

 surface waters of the whole of the Arctic basin and of the seas included in it. 

 In addition, the climate of the Arctic does not remain unchanged. 



Increase in temperature of the Arctic 



A considerable rise of temperature has been observed in the Arctic and the 

 adjacent temperate latitudes during the last 40 years ; it was first noted by 

 N. Knipovitch for the Barents Sea in 1921. In Spitsbergen during the five 

 months November to March of the period 1916-20 the mean temperature was 

 -17-6°, whereas in 1931-34 it was -8-6°, i.e. 9° higher. 



A graphic illustration of the increase in temperature of the Arctic is given 

 by K. Badigin. It is evident from a comparison of the mean monthly tempera- 

 ture readings taken on the voyage of the From (1895) with those taken on the 

 Sedov (1939-39) that during the coldest months the average temperature of the 

 air is now almost 10° higher than it was 43 years ago (Table 7). 



Table 7 



The mean annual temperature at Archangel between 1891 and 1915 was 

 0-2° and between 1931 and 1934, 1-6°. In the Yugorsky Shar the mean 

 annual air temperature was —8-4° between 1914 and 1919, whereas from 1920 

 to 1935 it was +2-2°. In Franz Joseph Land (Tikhaya inlet ) between 1873 

 and 1914 the temperature was -13-9° and from 1929 to 1936, +3-4°. In 

 Spitsbergen the annual mean temperature was 1-7 to 1-8° above normal during 

 the period from 1923 to 1933. The mean winter temperature in Spitsbergen 

 has gradually risen over the years, Table 8. 



Table 8 



Period 1916-20 



Mean winter 

 temperature, °C -17-6 



There are many other indications of a rise of temperature in the Arctic in 

 the course of recent decades :* the retreat of glaciers which covered the Arctic 



* Willet (1950) thinks that the increase in the temperature of the Arctic began in 1885. 



