ANTARCTIC INFLUENCES ON AUSTRALIAN CLIMATE 



297 



All such attempts to show regular cycles have failed, probably 

 because the areas are too large. But in 1922 the writer pointed out 

 how closely the drought periods in the Dar- 

 ling River area (i. e. Bourke) agreed with 

 variations in solar energy. Captain E. 

 Kidson has shown in his recent study of 

 Australian rainfalF that there are alternate 

 zones in the continent, which are differently 

 affected by solar energy (see Fig. 10). In 

 times of strong solar energy the southern 

 coasts, north coast, and inland Queensland 

 and New South Wales have more than aver- 

 age rainfall. The correlation rises as high 

 as -f-o.y or -f-0.8 at certain stations in these 

 two areas. In years of low solar energy, the 

 arid center and the coast of New South 

 Wales benefit. Here again correlations are 

 often of the same high order, such as — 0.7 or 

 —0.8. It is probable that along these lines 

 of investigation a real progress in drought 

 forecasting may be made in the future. It 

 may be mentioned that Dr. Pigot is in 

 charge of a solar-radiation station near Syd- 

 ney where variations in solar energy will soon be recorded continuously. 



One factor connecting the Antarctic weather with that of Australia 



SoJar Energy (reversed curve) 



Fig. 10 — (above) Correlation of 

 rainfall with solar energy. (After 

 Kidson, work cited in footnote 7.) 

 B = Bourke. 



(below) Correlation of Bourke 

 droughts with solar energy. (From 

 the writer's "Environment and 

 Race," Oxford, 1927, Fig. 75.) 



Fig. II — The Antarctic coast near Mawson's West Base showing the variation in the width of the 

 pack ice during the years 1912, 1913, and 1914. (After J. K. Davis's "With the 'Aurora' in theAntarctic, 

 1911-1914," London, 1919, p. 1S2.) 



is the drifting pack ice. In the Terra Nova about Christmas, 1910, we 

 passed through a belt of pack ice nearly 500 miles wide between lati- 



' Edward Kidson: Some Periods in Australian Weather, Commonwealth of Australia Bur. o/ 

 Meteorol. Bull. No. 17, Melbourne, 1925, pp. S-33. 



