The Arizona sentinel., 1905-08-16
A Permanent Sea Will Not Affect
 Climatic Conditions

4ne great capacity that water
 has for heat and the SloWness
 with which it radiateS the same
 is the principle upon which de-
 pends any change in climate due
 to the turning of the Colorado
 river into what is known as the
 Salton Basin. The same amount
 of heat wifi raise the tempera-
 ture of 6 land surface four times
 as high as it will raise that of a
 water surface. Land retains it's
 absorbed heat comparatively
 near the surface and quickly and
 freely radiates that which it has
 absorbed. These conditions give
 to land much higher tempera-
 tores during the day and much
 lower temperatures during the
 night than prevail over water
 surfaces of the same latitude and much colder winters and much
 warmer summers. We are always
 most quickly sensible of material
 changes in temperature. The current summer has been char
 acterized by cool nights and hot days-opposite extremes from
 what might be expected if the
 "Salton Sea" if, as thought by many is exercising such a marked effect on the climate of it's vici- nity.
 Evaporation is much more rapid from saturated land sur face than from a water surface, for the reason that in the case of the land surface more moisture is exposed to the action of the air. When the cigar man wishes the air of his show case to be moistened he inserts a cup of water, when he wishes to make it damp he puts in a moist sponge. The evaporation of water consumes heat and the facility with which the envelop- ing air receives the moisture of the body determines to a large the temperature that we feel at any given time.
 The Colorado river flows past and from its exposed surface and in it's immediate vicinity a moist aning of the air is thought to be ( perceptible but the vici- nity of an irrigated field, espe- cially during hot weather, is ' found in the absence of any breeze to be almost unbearabfe. { We notice, too, that when light |, shower dampens only a limited area the effect is much more ! marked.
 There are many square miles < of irrigated lands in the south 6 vest and yet the most careful 1 consideration has failed to detect my climate changes resulting 5herefrOm: this is because there sre thousands of square miles of r lrid plains and mountains com c pared with which the irrigated lrea is nothing and a few square niles of water surface a matter 5oo small to be considered. c
 Let there be a little change at | he source of our weather supply 2 'esulting in the prevalence of k thunderstorm conditions over | Arizona for the space of one day y md forces would be let loose Il ltanfc in their power and effect, V md beside which the exposure | 'f a few square miles of water in V he SaltOn Basin would be as V lOthing. T
 Consider for a moment the | of water surface exposed e 0 the air by one good average s thunderstorm, it Is something i almost beyond the tt power of the imagination to con- Il eive of; think of this condition V 'eing prevalent over an area of a
 thousand squars miles with the mount of rain precipitated and be effect of the exposure of a lc ew square miles of water sur u ace in the SaltOn Basin, sinks ST 1tO fnSi pDi fic9I7cp in comma picOl1 CI