New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-01-29

PATAGONIA AND VICTORIA LAND
Several circumstances have recently directed
attention to the climate and weather OF the
Southern Hemisphere at the time when on TINS
side OF the Equator the most extreme colo OF the
year is being experienced. The Antarctic expe-
dition that sailed from England In August under
command of Captain Rorchgrcvink. and when
touched at Hobart Town, Tasmania, in Decem-
Der hoped 10 reach its destination during Janu-
ary II all has gone well the party Is now
ashore in Victoria Land. about II degrees soutp
of the Equator. When Sir Martin Conway was
last heard from he had abandoned further ef-
forts 10 climb Mount Sorata, In Bolivia. had JUST
ascended Aconcagua In Chill. and then was
starting for Terra del FuegO, where ne proposed
to reach the SUBMITS of the highest peaks OF
that region in south latitude ~ or %. And II
Is reported that more than one band Of FOSSIL
hunters is proving about in Patagonia. hunting
for specimens at the present time.
one of the first facts that the schoolboy
learns is that. owing to the fitting over OF the
carth's axis toward the plane OF It's orbit there
is "A succession OF seasons. and that wheh SUM
mcr prevails one side OF the Equator winter
rcigns on the other. But there is another TACT
that is not SO commonly recognized lnasmuch
as the carth's orbit is tri1lc eccentric, we come
about three million miles nearer TO the sun at
one time than at another.
Two consequences result from that fact. In
the first place winter occurs in the Northern
Hemisphere when the earth is nearest the sun
Hence that hemisphere receives more warmth
from the sun between September and March
than does the Southern Hemisphere during the
ether half OF the year: whereas the Southern
Hemisphere derives about per cent more heat
at the December solstice than the Northern
Hemisphere does in June.
The other consequence Of the shape Of the
earth's orbit is that the equnOxes do not divide
the year into equal parts From September e
TO March 70 there are only 179 days. whereas
between March 20 and September ~ 1896 inter
yene II the Northern Hemisphere is not exposed
to quite such severe thermal radiation from the
sun, 1t has seven more days Of summer than
the other hemisphere has The brevity Of the
southern summer, then, partially cOmpensates
for its intensity.
But there ie still another factor in the case
welve-thrtecnths OF the land area OF the
earth's surface IL confined to the Northern
Hemisphere. Almost the whole Southern Henri
sphere is vast Now. land and water
behave very differently under the influence Of
solar radiation. Land heats up rapidly, and
eOols rapidly. Water does neither. The hottest
weather of the northern summer is experienced
lief by rushing to the Likewise in winter
the boldest plunges OF the mercury made
well inland, and the ocean, except far UP
the poles, refuses to freeze. Entirely aside from
the exceptional warmth OF the Gulf Stream, the
sea is far warmer than the land in winter.
Hence the extremes Of temperature between
the extreme weather Of winter and summer are
very great land. In Montana and the ad-
iacent territory the annual range is about $50
degrees, and in Siberia the difference is even
greater But it is impossible To find any spot
well out at where the range In the shade is
anything like this.
Now. inasmuch there is little land in the
iOuthern Hemisphere. II is doubtful whether
here Is a place south Of the equator where an
annual range of temperature like that of Mon
Nna is observed South Africa. which extends
,nly 30 degrees from the equator, may have
some pretty hot weather and 50 may Australia
which reaches trhc further south. and has a
broader continental cxpansc than that Of Africa
south of the twentieth parallel But in neither
Of them such cold be experienced Cat sea
IeveD in Kansas Nebraska. 1t seems un-
likely that South America-cther in the north
where 1t is broad but blessed with the equable
climate Of the tropics in the south, where the
rapidly narrowing continental wedge comes
more and under the tempering influence
of the adjacent ocean--eVer Witnesses "A range OF
temperature Of more than 100 or 10 degrees.
Especial interest attaches to the conditions
prevailing on the patch of land that is supposed
to encircie the South Pole. and to extend nearly
or quite twenty degrees Of latitude therefrom.
Here is an area somewhat larger than Australia.
In the winter time u is not improbable that the
cold there is something fearful Not only Is
that half of the year seven days longer than the
northern winter. but the earth at the June sol
sticC nho Min1cr snlslicn II tho enulLl is further