444 The National Geographic Magazine 



of short oscillations of the atmospheric 

 conditions at a station, we have the 

 means for interpreting them in terms of 

 climate. The amplitudes of the press- 

 ure and temperature oscillations change 

 decidedly from one year to another, 

 and we note the result popularly by the 

 fact that one winter is cold and the next 

 warm, one summer dry and another 

 moist. These practical results are al- 

 ways accompanied by certain changes 

 in the normal conditions — that is to 

 say, their departures from the normal 

 or average state of the temperature. 

 We now know that some countries are 

 favorable and some unfavorable for re- 

 cording the solar variations in terms of 

 meteorological changes. Generally the 

 plateau and mountainous regions are 

 not as well adapted as the low-level or 

 oceanic areas to feel this solar impulse 

 without mixing it up with the other 

 motions of the atmosphere and burying 

 it in them. Thus Asia is not favor- 

 able, Europe and Africa are somewhat 

 better, while North and South Amer- 

 ica, the Indian Ocean, and Australia 

 are the most sensitive areas for making 

 the records. The small ocean islands, 

 Mauritius, Azores, Hawaii, etc., seem 

 to be most suitable for this solar regis- 

 tration. This is, no doubt, due to the 

 fact that the ocean-island climates are 

 less disturbed than the continental, 

 where the mountain ranges exercise a 

 great influence upon the circulation of 

 the lower strata of the atmosphere. 

 Thus the Himalaya Mountains, stretch- 

 ing east and west, shield the continent 

 of Asia from cyclonic action, while 

 the Andes and the Rocky Mountains, 

 stretching north and south, are favor- 

 able for producing local storms in North 

 and South America. The Indian Ocean 

 records the solar impulse by reason of 

 the quiescence of the atmosphere over 

 it, while the United States records it in 

 another way by reason of the activity 

 of the circulation traversing it. This 

 region has many more storms than other 



portions of the earth, and that is why 

 meteorology has a special duty to per- 

 form for science in the United States 

 by reason of its active field, which favors 

 a proper study of the fundamental prob- 

 lems. 



Enough has been accomplished in the 

 way of establishing the fact of this solar- 

 terrestrial synchronism to justify scien- 

 tific men in all portions of the earth de- 

 voting their best energies to a further 

 elucidation of all the facts. The range 

 of work is enormous, since it involves 

 so many lines of correlated subjects in 

 solar physics, terrestrial magnetism, and 

 meteorology. 



The International Meteorological 

 Committee is about to organize a strong 

 attack upon the cosmical problem by 

 enlisting the cooperation of observato- 

 ries in these several fields of work, both 

 as to the method of observations and the 

 mode of computation and publication. 

 This alliance between solar physics and 

 meteorology is most desirable, and there 

 is little doubt that the foundations will 

 be laid for a great practical science, 

 whose outcome, we hope, will be an 

 ability to forecast the seasonal condi- 

 tions at least approximately from year 

 to year. The benefits to be derived by 

 the American public from a fair knowl- 

 edge of the probable kind of seasons to 

 be expected in the several portions of 

 the country is so obvious that a gener- 

 ous support of the scientific work re- 

 quired to reach this result will seem not 

 only permissible, but most important. 

 How rapidly a practical conclusion for 

 such studies can be reached will depend 

 almost entirely upon the facilities placed 

 at the disposal of the Weather Bureau 

 by the government. It will require able 

 students to handle the technical prob- 

 lems and many workers to carry out the 

 details of the observations and make the 

 necessary computations. The Secre- 

 tary of Agriculture and the Chief of the 

 Weather Bureau have been making 

 preparations for this work by founding 



