i86 T. C. CHAMBERLIN 



Even on the Labrador coast, Sangmijok lies just north of 60°, 

 while in the interior numerous native villages and traders' stations 

 lie near and north of this parallel. On the western coast of the 

 American continent, which again is affected by warm ocean currents 

 from the Pacific, there are busy towns and active human industries 

 on or north of this parallel, such as Seward, Cordova, Valdez, and 

 not a few others. 



Thus the climate of 60° N. Lat. — equating the favorable and 

 unfavorable effects of particular ocean currents — is very markedly 

 more hospitable than that of the oceanic parallel of 60° S. Lat. 



Comparison of the climates at the Arctic and Antarctic Circles. — The 

 Antarctic Circle fits the Antarctic land much as a hoop fits a barrel. 

 If the simple fact that a broad sea surrounding a relatively small 

 land were sufi&cient to induce figs and magnolias to grow within the 

 polar circles, it would seem that the sea-girt coasts of Antarctica 

 should furnish an illustration, all the more so because the encom- 

 passing seas have broad connections with the tropical tracts of the 

 Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans. As a matter of fact, the cli- 

 mate of this sea-girt coast is extremely severe, as is too well known 

 to require any special statement. 



The Arctic Circle, on the other hand, lies on the ring of land 

 which surrounds — with some interruptions — the Arctic Ocean, or, 

 more truly, the North Polar Sea. It traverses land nearly all the 

 way round, and great continents lie to the south, while an ice-covered 

 sea Hes within it. Scarcely 15 per cent of the Circle is occupied 

 by arms of the sea. And yet, in contrast with the inhospitality of 

 the Antarctic region, human settlements, and the lower life neces- 

 sary to support these, are located in practically every segment of 

 the Circle. Even in Siberia, where the conditions are most conti- 

 nental and where the adjacent seas are of the specially cold order, 

 Sredne Kolymsk, Verkho5nask, Krasnoe, Zashiversk, Shigansk, and 

 Obdorsk He on or near the Circle and not a few other settlements 

 lie still farther north. Not a little of Siberia even at this high lati- 

 tude is covered with coniferous forests. 



Following the Circle on into Europe, we find lying on or near 

 it, Kemitrask, Rovoniemi, Turtola, and Silbojock. It is of some 

 special significance that near Vuollerim the Arctic Circle is crossed 



