The record-union., 1899-03-27
THE ANTARCTIC SUMMER.
WEATHER ON THE OTHER SIDE
OF THE EQUATOR.
The Earth's Nearness to the sun
Two Compensating Influences
Exploration In Patagonia.

Several circumstances have recently
17irectad attention to the climate and
weather of the Southern hemisphere
al the time when on this side OF the
equator the most extreme colo OF tne
year is being experienced. Ine Antarc-
tic expedition that sailed from England
in August under command OF captain
Borchgrevinl, and which touched at
Hobart Town, Tasmania, in December,
hoped to reach it's destination during
January If all has gone we'll, the
party is now ashore in Victoria Land,
about II degrees south of the equator.
When Sir Martin Conway was last
heard from he had abandoned furtner
efforts to climb Mount Sorata, IN Bo-
livia had Just ascended Aconcagua, in
Chilli. and then was starting for Terra
del Fuego, where he proposed to reach
the SUBMITS of the highest peaks OF
that region, in south latitude 54 or %.
And it is reported that more than one
band of fossil-hunters is prowling about
in Patagonia, hunting for specimens, at
the present time.
One of the first facts that the school
boy learns is that, owing to the fitting
over of the earth's axis toward the
of seasons, and that when summer pre-
walls on one side of the equator winter
reigns on the other But there is an
other fact that is not so commonly rec
ognized. Inasmuch as the earth's orbit
is a trif1e eccentric, we come about
100000 miles nearer to the sun at one
time than at another.
Two consequences result from that
70 onf Tn hn Grct ralo n or
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 other half of the year;
whereas the Southern Hemisphere de-
rives about 6 per cent. more heat at
the December solstice than the North
ern Hemisphere does in June.
The other consequence of the shape
of the earth's orbit is that the equi-
noxes do not divide the year into equal
parts. From September 22d to March
Goth there are only 179 days, whereas
between March Goth and September
22d 1856 intervene. If the Northern
Hemisphere is not exposed to quite such
severe thermal radiation from the sun,
/
the other hemisphere has. The brevity
of the Southern summer. then, partially
compensates for its intensity
But there is still another factor in
the case Twelve-thirteenths of the
land area of the, earth's surface is con-
fined to the Northern Hemisphere. AL
most the whole Southern Hemisphere
is one vast sea- Now, land and water
behave very differently under the inf1u-
ence of solar radiation. Land heats up
rapidly and cools rapidly. Water does
neither The hottest weather of the
Northern summer is experienced in the
heart of the continent, and one seeks
relief by rushing to the sea. Likewise
in. winter, the boldest plunges of the
mercury are made we'll inland, and the
ocean, except far up near the poles, re-
fuses 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 on land. In
Montana and the adjacent territory the