376 Life in the Open 



which sweeps up the coast of China from the tropics, 

 crosses the north Pacific and flows down the west coast 

 of North America. If this current holds its temperature 

 to any considerable degree it would hardly seem possible 

 that it should not to some extent modify the climate of 

 California that differs so notably from points in the same 

 latitude on the Atlantic coast ; but Professor Alexander 

 G. McAdie, professor of meteorology of the U. S. 

 Weather Bureau, stationed at San Francisco, who has 

 made a study of the climatology of California, be- 

 lieves that the current has very little influence upon the 

 coast, and he ascribes the prevailing west winds, which 

 are factors in the summer climate, to an " easterly drift 

 of the atmosphere in temperate latitudes." The follow- 

 ing is taken from Professor McAdie's report of 1903 : 



" The prevailing easterly drift of the atmosphere in 

 temperate latitudes, causing the well-known winds from 

 the west, is one of the prime factors in modifying the 

 climate of the coast of California. This coast line, 

 stretching for 10 degrees of latitude, is subjected to a 

 steady indraft of air from the west. In this movement, 

 together with the fact that to the west is the great 

 Pacific Ocean, lies the secret of the difference in tem- 

 peratures between the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts at 

 places of like latitude. For some years there has been an 

 impression that the milder climate of the Pacific coast 

 was due to a warming influence of the Kuro Skiwo, or 

 Japan current. No reliable data exist to support such 

 a belief, and it is quite unlikely that the Japan current 



