We may also recall the ship FoKa of the -Sedou expedition which in 1912 could not reach 

 Franz Joseph Land and was forced to winter along the northwest shores of Novaya Zemlya. In the 

 same year the ship St, Anna of the Brusilov expedition was caught In the ice along the shores of 

 Yamal Peninsula after it had been carried there by the ice drift towards the central part of the 

 Arctic Ocean. 



We could cite numerous such examples , but the foregoing are sufficient to show that the navi- 

 gational conditions, at least in seas such as the Greenland, Barents and Kara which have been more 

 completely studied as to ice conditions, have become incomparably easier during the past 10 to 20 

 years than in previous years. 



Due to insiifficiency of observations, the question of warming of the arctic in its whole broad 

 connotation has been propounded only very recently, namely in connection with preparation for 

 carrying out the Second International Polar Year, when I had to plan the sea expedition routes in 

 advance. Certain phenomena connected with warming of the arctic had been noted earlier. For 

 example, Knipovich was the first to turn his attention to the high temperatures of the Barents Sea 

 in 1921. This warming was then confirmed in 1923 by our voyage on the Perseus to Franz Joseph 

 Land without meeting ice. 



Still more remarkable is the fact that the warming of the arctic is not confined to any partic- 

 ular region. In actuality, the same signs of warming of the atmosphere and hydrosphere are found 

 in the Bering Strait in the Pacific Ocean as in the western sector of the Soviet Arctic. 



A warming of the antarctic is evidently also going on simultaneously, although there are as 

 yet no data to permit reliable judgement concerning this. 



On the background of general warming of the arctic we are observing warmer years and 

 colder years, but there are not signs as yet that this warming is terminating, and this question, in 

 connection with a deeper analysis of the causes of the warming, is one of the most interesting prob- 

 lems of contemporary oceanography. 



LITERATURE: 14, 33, 35, 58, 62, 70, 72, 77, 144. 



476 



