CHAPTER IX 



CLIMATOLOGY 



Polar Climates 



ALL the expeditions in this century have reahzed 

 l\. the paramount importance of a knowledge of 

 the meteorology and climatology of the Antarctic. 

 Among these the Belgian expedition included Arctow- 

 ski, the French expedition Rouch, the German expedi- 

 tions Bidlingmaier and Barkow, the Scotch expedition 

 Mossman, and the Swedish expedition Bodman. The 

 British expeditions have been accompanied by L. 

 Bernacchi, Sir Edgeworth David, G. Ainsw^orth, and 

 especially G. C. Simpson. The writer w^ent south as 

 a government official in the Commonwealth Weather 

 Service and was in charge of the station while Simp- 

 son was sledging. C. S. Wright carried on the work 

 during 191 2. As mentioned previously the chief aim 

 of Sir Hubert Wilkins' expeditions is to make prepara- 

 tions for a complete meteorological survey of the Ant- 

 arctic continent. 



While the Antarctic climate has a great bearing upon 

 the climates of the southern continents, the latter are 

 so far distant that there is no similarity in the climates 

 themselves. Thus Africa is 2,400 miles away, Aus- 

 tralia 1,800 and America about 1,100 miles from 

 the main mass of the southern continent. As re- 



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