28 SECTIONAL ADDRESSES 
in Fig. 2, and in its top chart we see that the rise of pressure with a 
positive fluctuation is greater as far east as Vienna and as far west as the 
Bermudas than it is at the Azores. ‘There is also to be seen in the second 
chart conspicuous warmth in the east of the United States as well as in 
north-west Europe, and marked cold to the south-east of the Mediterranean 
as well as along the north-east of North America. On rainfall, in the 
lowest chart, the influence is less widespread. ‘The small amount of 
persistency is shown in Fig. 3. The first of its three graphs shows how 
VIENNA PRESS. DEC.~ FEB, 
ELANO PRESS. DEC -FEB 
REVERSED 
5 80 185 go 95 oo} 05 Pbrot rt rita torts 125) 1 1130 
Fic. 1.—N. Atlantic Oscillation. 
close are the relationships of pressure in December with the figures 
expressing the fluctuations of the North Atlantic in that month ; the 
second and third, which give the relationships of pressure and temperature 
in January with the fluctuations of the oscillation of the December before, 
show that little effect of the December conditions survives after a month. 
The more critical in my audience may object that if you are sufficiently 
astute in choosing your successive numbers for the fluctuation you can 
make a certain amount of agreement with any system of pressures and 
temperatures ; and to this the reply is that the fit is very much closer 
than can be explained in this way. Others may urge that all these 
arguments are merely numerical, and quote the jibe that by statistics 
you can prove anything. But if you wish to understand phenomena 
you must collect the facts, and if they are numerical it is only in the 
