THE INFLUENCE OF ARCTIC METEOROLOGY ON 

 THE CLIMATE OF CANADA ESPECIALLY^ 



Sir Frederic Stupart 



The general circulation of the earth's atmosphere is such that 

 there is no part of the northern hemisphere, outside the tropics, that 

 is not more or less affected by climatic conditions prevailing in the 

 Arctic Regions. Passing northward from the tropics, through the 

 middle latitudes, the periods of direct influence increase with increas- 

 ing latitudes, until, when the zone north of the mean track of cyclonic 

 areas is reached, conditions normal to the Arctic zone are the pre- 

 dominating influence.^ 



In the winter season the polar area does not have the lowest 

 temperature in the northern hemisphere. In Asia the average mean 

 ■January temperature of -60° F. (-51° C.) at Verkhoyansk, in the 

 Province of Yakutsk, in latitude 67°, represents the coldest area in 

 the northern hemisphere, while in America observation indicates that 

 the territory north of Chesterfield Inlet on the northwestern side of 

 Hudson Bay, with a mean January temperature of -35° F. (-37° C), 

 is the coldest area in the northern part of the western hemisphere, 

 unless it be that the ice-covered dome of Greenland is colder. The 

 mean temperature of the polar area in January is probably about 

 -30° F. (-34° C). 



Prevailing winds play a very important role in climate, and the 

 phenomena of the traveling cyclonic and anticyclonic areas with 

 their attendant circulating winds lead to the changeable weather of 

 the northern middle latitudes. The mean track of the cyclonic areas 

 marks approximately the line to the northward of which high-latitude 

 influences predominate, while to the southward low-latitude influences 

 are the more prevalent. The normal distribution of the atmosphere 

 over the surface of the globe, in the various seasons, gives exact 

 information as to prevailing winds. The winter charts show that the 



1 dn the influence of Arctic meteorology on the weather and climate of the north temperate zone 

 see a number of recent papers in the proceedings of the first (Nov., 1926) meeting of the International 

 Association for the Exploration of the Arctic by Airship published in Ergdnzungsheft No. iqi zu Peler- 

 manns Mitt., Gotha, 1927, as follows: Sir Napier Shaw: The Influence of the North Polar Region 

 Upon the Meteorology of the Northern Hemisphere, pp. 25-30; the paper by V. Bjerknes cited in foot- 

 note 3 below; L. Weickmann: Die 24 tagige polare Druckwelle des Winters 1923-24, pp. 60-63; H. U. 

 Sverdrup; Die meteorologischen Untersuchungen und Ergebnisse der "Maud"-Expedition, pp. 63-68 

 (see also the references in footnote 4 of the preceding paper by Mr. Clayton in the present volume) ;W. 

 Schostakowitsch (Shostakovich) : Der Einfluss der Arktis auf das Klima Sibiriens, pp. 68-77. — Edit. 

 Note. 



2 A pertinent paper is H. H. Kimball: The General Circulation of the Atmosphere, Especially 

 in the Arctic Regions, Monthly Weather Pev., Vol. 29, 1901, pp. 408-418, with Chart 10. — Edit. Note. 



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