SIGNIFICANT AMELIORATIONS OF PRESENT 

 ARCTIC CLIMATES 



T. C. CHAMBERLIN 



University of Chicago 



In an article in a recent number of this JournaV it was found by 

 comparisons of oceanic with terrestrial climates between mid-lati- 

 tudes and the poles that the present effect of the ocean on climate 

 in those latitudes is cooling rather than warming. It was found 

 further that theoretical considerations lead to the same conclusion. 

 Thus these inquiries disclosed the untenability of the veteran theory 

 that the ancient mild climates of high latitudes are assignable to 

 extension of the ocean in itself alone considered. At the same time, 

 the inquiry made it evident that the sea is a potent climatic influ- 

 ence. This is largely due to its exceptional capacity for storing 

 heat and the facility with which it transfers heat because of its 

 mobility. The data for comparison were so ample and convincing 

 that it was not felt necessary to dwell on the details of the most 

 striking case of climatic amelioration in high latitudes now available 

 for study. This was reserved for special discussion in the present 

 article, because it is singularly well fitted to reveal the really effec- 

 tive sources of such climatic ameliorations. This most instructive 

 case is found at the head of Baffin Bay, in a land-girt region on the 

 west side of the oceanic thoroughfare between the Atlantic Ocean 

 and the Polar Sea. Because of the relative mildness of its climate 

 and the abundance of its food supplies, this region has been the home 

 of the Arctic Highlanders, a tribe of healthy, vigorous and compe- 

 tent Eskimos, for an unknown period. Theirs is the most northerly 

 permanent settlement of the world at the present time. This habit- 

 able land is isolated on all sides by tracts so inhospitable that they 

 are not permanently inhabited by man. It is an oasis in the frigid 

 desert of the north. Its significance stands out when its land-girt 



^ T. C. Chamberlin, "A Veteran Climatic Fallacy," Jour, of GeoL, Vol. XXXI 

 (1923), No. 3, pp. 179-91. 



376 



