The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-02-19

9. 1S93---SIXTEEN PA
lies in their irregularity. They may be
exact. but they are not regular. That is,
the observations are not made persist
emily day by day at the same hour over
long time;
ONE ABSOLUTE CHARGE.
There have been, no doubt, in the past
very great changes in the climate. We
may take the glacial period. That, it Is
now thought, was not so very long ago.
During this 'sice age'' large portion of
the northern half of the country was COW
cred with perpetual ice. We see traces
of the great distraction caused by the ice
cap to this day. There Is every reason to
think that this season of prolonged win
ter gradually changed to our present
climate. The winters grew shorter, the
summers longer and the enormous mass
OF ice that covered the country gradually
retreated Plainly there was then d
change in the climate of North America.
observer" and the coolest Iubabitant''
no doubt dimly recognized some change
IN their prehistoric climate. They had
no newspaper in which to print their re-
marks concerning the winters OF their
boyhood, but they undoubtedly appre-
GATED the warmer weather that made life
less horrible.
WHY PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS ARE VAL
UELEss.
Since the glacial period ended there is
every reason to believe that our climate
has remained apparently unchanged.
The first colonists found the continent
covered with trees, and it is possible THAI
since the country began to be settled and
the land cleared off there may have been
some changes in the amount of moisture
in the air. Whether this is so or not it is
impossible to say. We have only per-
Scnal observations made without lnStru-
ments and irregular records of no sclen-
tlfic value. We cannot say the climate
has changed, az it probably did change
in the closing centuries of the ice age, be-
cause we have not lived on this continent
long enough and the Indians never OBJ
served at all.
1t probably did; but how fast or how
much we simply do not know. Those
are questions for the students of this
branch of science.
The question now is, does our climate
change, or is the climate changing now?
Nobody knows. No adult now living
is ever likely to know. The question,
however curious or interesting, is I'M
practicable.
If we knew the climate is really chang
ing, it would be a real vital every day
matter worthy of the highest considera-
ton. AS we cannot know, it is one of the
questions of value only to the students of
science. To the man of science it is one
of the most curious and interesting ques-
tions he now has before him-and that is
all
If we knew we would build our houses
to meet the changes in heat and cold,
rain, snow and stormy winds, and the
fashion of our clothes would change
greatly. We don't know, and for a va
riety of excellent reasons. The variations
in the climate-climate itself is a matter
of science. Climate can only be studied
by means of instruments of percision.
The statement that the air is warm or cold
is wholly inexact and thus of no scientific
value.
The thermometer was invented by Gal
ileo some time before the year 1911. 1t
was not an instrument of precision until
Fahrenheit fixed its scale upon known
unvarying standards of temperature, and
this was not until about 1903.
Therefore, until 1903 there could be no
accurate observations made concerning
the temperature of the air. Until such
observations were made at frequent fixed
intervals and duly recorded there could be
no climatology or science OF climate.
The barometer, another instrument of
precision, was invented by Torricelli in
1913. There are also instruments for
measuring the velocity of the wind, the
rainfall and the moisture of the air, ali
comparatively recent inventions.
VALUABLE RECORDS FOR TWENTY TWO
YEARS ONLY.
Until we had these instruments we were
totally unable to make any exact records
of changes in climate, Until these rec
ords were made with absolute regularity
day by day for a series of years we had no
means of forming an opinion as to whether
the climate of any particular place
changed or not.
Regular observations and records OF
rainfall and temperature have been made
in different places, particularly in Europe,
for perhaps hundred years. That does
not help us here, and it was not until
after the United States govern ment estab-
lished the present bureau OF the weather.
say about 1871, that any man could tell
with exactitude what our climate really
was.
Twenty-Five years is absolutely too
short a time to decide as to whether the
climate is changing or not. A hundred
years from now, when men of science
have the magnificent scientific records of
our government for guides, it is possible
they may be able to form an opinion on
this matter.
SCIENCE CONSCIOUS OF PERTURBATION
At the same time, it is to be observed
that there seems, already in these invalu-
able records, to be a faint hint of changes,
beginning or ending, increasing or de-
creasing-no man can yet say which.
There is a dim suggestion of change.
The cutting off of the forest, the great
heat given off by great cities, irriga-
ton in the West-those, one or all, or
other things we know not of, seem to
point to perturbation something in
our climate.
What it is, what it means no man ap-
pears able to say. 1t may mean nothing
at all.
The trouble is our prospective is too
short. We have not observed the climate
through the telescope of the telegraph
long enough The whole subject is too
near us. The next generation but one
may be able to resolve into truth the sur
mise Of today.
For ourselves we must be content to be
unable to answer the question at all.
CHARLES BARNARD.
CIRCUS CLOWNS.