Evening star., 1902-03-22
CLIMATE CHANGING
Farmer Dunn Discusses Pros
and Cons.
COLONIAL RECORDS
SHOW HARDER WINTERS THAN
OURS.
But the Past Thirty Years Has Had
an Unchanged Aver
age.
Copyright. 1902.

| written lot Inc EVeh1hS Star by T. Is bishh
Whether or not a change is taking place
| in our climate is question OF widespread
and increasing interest. This is especially
| true in the United States, a country Of
vast extent. obliged to maintain constant
| intercommunication and dependent largely
| upon the weather to the successful out
| come Of commercial and industrial enter
prises.
| To answer the question offhand would
be to display degree of ignorance unbe-
coming those who should be capable OF Civ
| ing an opinion. 1t is true, nevertheless,
| that there is a growing belief that climatic
| change Is going on. Those who hold this
| view draw conclusions mostly from their
| own memories Of past seasons: many have
| been convinced of change through increased
or diminished business interests.
The records kept by the government do
not cover a period of sufficient duration to
| permit the drawing of conclusive opinion.
! This would require records lasting hun
dred years or more. Some among those In
| terested have unearthed old records kept
| in the days Of our grandfathers and great
| grandfathers. In few instances these rec
| oIds go back more than two centuries and
| form part Of history. And, although in
| termittent in most cases and made in wide
| ly separated localities, these records must
| be considered fairly authentic. For no rea-
/
| fathers should have made false statements;
| in fact, they could have had no idea that
their entries were to be utilized for pur-
poses of comparison long years after the
! observers had passed away.
a curious feature of these old weather
records is this: They generally refer solely
to the extreme coldness of the winters,
which began usually in November and
| covering the ground during the entire
| period Hardly a mention is made Of ex-
| treme heat, or any unusual condition per-
| tanning to the summer months.
Mention is found in these ancient records
the earlier dating back to 1tD1-of cycles
| of severe cold lasting several winters, and
| again intermittent cycles Of mild weather
| and it Is noteworthy that the cold in most
| cases exceeded that prevailing in the same
| sections of country during recent years.
| For instance. the winter Of 1779-S0, in which
| there was intense and uninterrupted cold
| from the latter part of November till the
middle Of March with snow covering the
ground nearly four feet deep for three con-
| secutiVe months. Long Island sound was
| frozen solid as well the East and North
! Rivers; traffic was carried on over the ice
| between New York and New Jersey and
| between New Jersey and Staten Island.
| Troops marched from New Jersey to Staten
| Island on the ice. There is a record of
severe snow storm in May, 1907 extending
over Long Island.
| Old-Tme Freezes
/
we're, Long Island sound was frozen over,
as it was again in 1719-So and in the latter
winter Chesapeake bay was also frozen
from its head to the mouth Of the Potomac
In 1864, the Delaware river was frozen
| solid. On February Z. 1868, an OK roast
| took place on the Schuylkill river
| In 1854 there is record in the vicinity
OF New York city. as follows: February
| 10, 10 degrees below zero: February II, II
| below; February H. 13 below: February Ii,
10 below; February ii. 20 below; February
| 10. II below; February 10, 18 below; Feb
ruary II, II below. Yet in the past thirty
years the lowest temperature recorded near
| New York was degrees below. In 1856
| the Susquehanna river closed on December
9 and the Delaware on December 26.
The winter of 1872 was one Of great
severity throughout all the Atlantic and
| gulf states; in many places in Georgia. Ten
| nessee and Alabama the temperature fell to
considerably below zero; at Huntsville,
Ala, it reached degrees below
| In 1S34-5 was another winter Of extreme
| cold In the same districts, as was also the
winter of 1856, when skating was enjoyed
| in southern Alabama. Records made
| through a long series of years might be
quoted in which extreme cold has been re-
corded, beyond question exceeding the low
| est temperatures Of the same places in the
/ past thirty years
But these figures do not answer the ques-
| tions Has there been any change? Is
change taking place at present?
Those who believe that climatic change
| has taken place and is still going on hold
diverse opinions to the cause there
| of. Some attribute It largely to the
| cutting Of the forests and the ex-
| tensive drainage of the soil that
| comes through cultivation. Others hold
| that the polar ice is leaving the poles and
| drifting into the waters of the middle lat
| itudes. Others that the great volume of
| artificial heat generated IN the larger cities
has a tendency to moderate the cold. But
| the theory having the strongest hold and
| which Is steadfastly persisted in, is. that
| the gulf stream has changed its course
| and is running closer to the shores of North
! America its warmth being felt over the
! land. In support of this notion it is held
that the gulf stream warns the British