Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1890-06-12
Sergeant Dunn Tells of the Eject of Ir-
rigating Western Lands.

NEW YORK. June ll-Sergeant Dunn. OF
the Weather Bureau, talked 90 the Acade-
my of Sciences at Columbia College Mon
jav uieht on the subject of The Change in
our Climate and rs Causes" That the
climate has changed In recent years he
showed bva comparison of official tempera-
turc records "The records show" he
said. "that since 1876 there has been an in
crease of heat in this city, except for the
years l~>5. lNSi. and lN>N. Those years
show slight deficiency.
"lu l~~y the surplus heat for january
was 81 degrees. while the same month thls
wear shows an excess of S3> degrees mean
temperature above the normal. an increase
of 156 degrees for February. 20 degrees for
March, and l52 degrees for April, the
month Of MAY closing with am excess since
january 4 of 80 degrees, on 30 degrees
more than for the same period for 1850
This great increase assures us OF two
things first. that the greatest excess of
heat occurs iu our coolest months, second,
that the months of July. August and sep
tember have tendency 90 bee cooler than
the mean"
Sergeant Dunn rejects the theory that an
approach to our coast 40 the Gulf Stream
ha, caused this change, and advances his
own theory that the change IS due 90 the
increasing area of irrigated lands i'm the
c.utr.I part ~ the country east OF the
Rocky Mountains.
-Wlthu the asst year or two most of our
storm, have travelled across the country
north . this city, and have followed each
.ufl,r u such rapid succession that il was
ou.y 0. rare occasions that AN are OF high
pressure with ID cold wave could slip down
from rle Northwest and overspread this
part of the country During the months
| of December. l>N9, january and February,
f~.U. bun one storm centre passed south of
This city. which is one factor IN accounting
for % scarcity of cold weather The same
period embraces twcnty-ciglt well-dcnned
storm centres which passed north of this
city. each iu turn causing a steady flow OF
warm air from the south uorthward over
the central valleys and this region.
An storms ike the electric current fol-
low "a path of the least atmospheric resist
auce. au increase of moisture offers extra
attraction toa storm The immense area
of country surrounding the irrigated lands
offers resistance % the storms on account
of it, dryuess, and instead OF passing over
thousands OF miles Of such land they take
un "a course which offers the greatest at
traction and least resistance over the art,-
fetal WATERWAYS Since 1874 irrigation
has expanded until 4.3OO.OOO acres of the
most fertile soil have been made available
for rails sing crops of all kinds. This spread
iue of water over the principal portion OF
the central plains has induced AN increased
rainfall The planting of trees and general
vegetation ou what was barren waste has
q further tendency 90 increase the rainfall,
and the larger the area covered the greater
win bc the influence TO prevent a relapse.
As 90 the future, Sergeant Dunn SAID
ain ms opinion the permancy OF a change
f,, ..rrf. .'irInfe dencuds entirely upon the
action taken I'm further irrigatiou. II the
lands iu tbe Northwest are first irrigated
the effect will BE- a continuance OF our
storm tracks over the higher attitudes; ON
the other hand, If the Southwest lands are
first reclaimed the storms will assume their
former course and a greater number Will
pass OF the coast south Of New York, thus
drawing down upon US the cold wave as IN
former rplrS