118 G. G. Hubbard — Air and Water, Temperature and Life. 



cape of Norway, 71° north latitude, keeping the coast free from 

 ice all the year round, and is felt in the Kara sea. It is by 

 means of this current that Nansen hopes to be borne through 

 the Kara sea and from the Lena delta by way of the north pole 

 to Greenland. 



The winds that bloAV over the Gulf stream, water the western 

 coast of France, Great Britain and Scandinavia, and temper 

 the climate of these northern regions to such a degree that 

 Stockholm and St. Petersburg have become great cities, while 

 in a lower latitude in Labrador, on the other side of the At- 

 lantic, " The country is so rocky and rough and the tempera- 

 ture so intensely cold in the winter (lower than the inhabited 

 parts of Greenland) that Labrador Would be worthless and unin- 

 habitable except for the seals and fish." These currents are 

 deflected by the coasts of France and Spain toward the west 

 and are drifted in different directions by the wind, watering the 

 eastern coasts of Spain and Portugal, but having precipitated 

 their moisture they leave the high lands of Spain dry, cold in 

 winter and hot in summer. 



In the Mediterranean the evaporation is much greater than in 

 the Atlantic ocean; its water is therefore salt and heavier. To 

 supply this loss by evaporation, water flows from the Atlantic 

 into the Mediterranean from west to east as a surface current. 

 The projection of Italy and Greece into the sea deflects these 

 currents along each coast of both countries. 



The general course of the winds of southern Europe is inter- 

 rupted by the Alps and Apennines in Italy, and by the high 

 mountains in Greece. Land and sea breezes water these coun- 

 tries in August and September, while the winter snow on the 

 Alps fills the Italian streams in summer and irrigates the land 

 through numerous canals. 



A plain, beginning in Holland and Belgium, runs through Ger- 

 many, gradually growing broader, into Russia, Avhere it is known 

 as the Black zone ; thence northeastward through a large part of 

 Siberia. It is low in the west, gradually rising toward the east, 

 though in- Siberia its northern margin dips gently beneath the 

 Arctic ocean. The western part of this plain is Avatered by the 

 winds from the Atlantic and from the North and Baltic seas and 

 the Gulf of Finland. The eastern part in Siberia is watered by 

 the winds from the Arctic ocean. These plains are the granary 



