Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1902-02-14
HOW THINGS CHANGE.
OTHER TRADITIONS MUST GO
WITH WILLIAM TELL STORY.

WIFI WILLIAM I6II SJOHV.
Cutting Away Forests Does Not CurtaiI Rainfall
The Gulf Stream and Japan Current Do MOI
Modify Temperature or AmeIiorate Climatic
Conditions-The Next Thing the Iconoclasi
Nay Attempt Will Be to Wipe Away the Be
lief that Potatoes Should be Planted " in ths
Noon"
Examiner.
The influence of the Gulf Stream
and OF the Japan current, the connec-
ton of rainfall with forestry and de.
mutation with floods, which have be.
come next to articles of religion in
the popular mind, are now scoffed at
as the old wives tales of science. Mr..
Henry Gannett, the well-known geog-
rapher, is the bold man who takes up
his pen against the teachings of the
text books, and in an article on "Cer-
tain Persistent Errors in Geography"
he says:
Gan example of the persistence of
error is the idea that the presence or
absence of forests has an influence
upon the amount of rainfall. Some
keen observer long ago detected the
fact that forested regions enjoyed a
heavier rainfall than those not forest
ed, and jumped to the conclusion that
rainfall was produced by forests, and,
as a corrollary, that the removal OF
forests diminished the rainfall. Look.
ing over the earth he found many
treeless, desert and semi-desert regions,
and forthwith instanced them as
frightful examples OF the result of
mans wastetulness in destroying the
forests. Prominent among these ex-
amples are the shores of the Mediter.
ranean, including the Iberian PENN
suls, Italy, Northern Africa and Syria,
which are often quoted as favorite il
lustrations of mans destruction of
climate by his destruction OF the for.
ests.
I'm reply to this charge, man can
certainly plead not guilty. If his ac-
cusers had possessed little more
knowledge of the causes of climate
and the conditions which modify it,
they would have seen at once that the
geography of this Mediterranean re.
eion, the present confguration Of the
land and water, and the prevailing
winds are such as to give it light
rainfall-iorests or no forests. Fur
thermore, knowledge of physiogra-
ply would have taught them, in cor.
roboration of the above, that the arid
or semi.arid conditions now existing
must have existed for many thousands
If not millions, of years, for the noun
tains. cliffs and canyons are such as
are carved only in arid regions, are
not those of a moist climate, and
these forms have not been made in q
day. The situation is simply that the
cart has been placed before the horse.
Want OF rain prevents the growth of
trees; want OF trees does not prevent
rain. This position is generally &C.
cepted among physical geographers,
but the majority Of the people still re-
verse cause and effect.
"Forests and Floods.-A persistent,
widespread and well-rooted error is
the belief that floods in our rivers are
greater and more frequent than for
merly, and that this is due to the re.
moval of forests from their, drainage
area. Every great food induces an
other food Of editorial paragraphs in
the newspapers to the effect that man,
by clearing away forests, has increased
the flood height of streame, and corre-
spondingly diminished the slew water
flow.
ut is probable, although it has not
been proved. that the clearing OF land
by cutting away the forests and UNDER
growth. does change the regimen Of
streams, increasing their flood height
and diminishing the flow at low stages.
In other words, water probably runs
off or evaporates more rapidly from
bare ground than from ground which
is covered with trees or other forms Of
vegetation. But where the forests are
cut away the land is seldom left bare /;
it is cultivated or quickly becomes
covered with bushes which hold the
water quite a. effectively as forests.
"Other familiar errors concern eli.
mate still more directly. The we'll.
known mild climate of the Northwest
Coast of America is commonly attrib-
uted to the balmy influences brought
to it by the japan current; the Gulf
stream is supposed to have the same
influence upon the west coast OF Eu.
rope, and the cold climate of the east
coast OF the United States is attributed
to the supposed current from the
Arctic Ocean hugging this coast.
"That these explanations do not
explain will be realized after reflec-
ton. Can it be supposed that the
Japan current, however warm it may
be when it leaves the tropics, retains
any appreciable excess of heat after a
journey OF 5000 miles in northern lat
itudesf As matter of fact, no trace
of this current reaches the shores OF
North America, its force being entire
ly lost thousands OF miles to the west.
ward. There is nothing left but the