THE VALUE OF AXi ARCTIC EXPLORATION 



Perhaps in the field of meteorolog>' lies the most 

 practical application of data obtainable only in the 

 Antarctic. Sir Hubert Wilkins is carrying out his 

 reconnaissance surveys in the south primarily with a 

 view to finding localities suitable for a chain of 

 meteorological stations all around the Antarctic con- 

 tinent. The layman knows that the general surface 

 circulation of the atmosphere is from the colder regions 

 toward the equator, and back again at higher levels. 

 But it is only since Scott's discovery in 1902 that 

 Antarctica is a gigantic ice-covered plateau that 

 meteorologists have appreciated the special localized 

 action of the phenomena at the South Pole. (There 

 is, for instance, nothing of the kind at the North Pole, 

 and indeed the meteorological pole in the X^orthern 

 Hemisphere is to be placed in northeast. Siberia rather 

 than in the deep ocean at the Pole itself.) We may 

 picture the poleward-flowing streams sinking to the 

 earth at the intensely cold elevated South Pole and 

 thence streaming out. either with moderate speed or as 

 furious blizzards, back again to temperate regions. 

 Indeed the phenomena in the heart of the Antarctic 

 may be compared to an organic "heart," which pumps 

 the streams back again to revivify regions of vital 

 importance to man. In a later section I hope to show 

 how closely linked are the climatic changes of Antarc- 

 tica with those of the southern continents, so that it is 

 not too much to say that the future long-range fore- 

 casting of droughts in south temperate lands will be 

 greatly helped by increased knowledge of Antarctic 

 meteorology. 



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