Evening times-Republican., 1913-07-16
SUNS HEAT 1O b
OUR BAROMETER.
WEATHER FORECASTS WILL BE
POSSIBLE MONTHS r,
AHEAD. I
:
TESTS WILL .TAkE
YEARS 70 MAKE
YEARs 70 MAKE

Professor Fresk, Dirsosor Of Yerl<ss
Observatory. IPrsdiuts That Future
Scientists WI es aAbIs to Tell ths
Temperature Ok Months In Al.
vanes-obsssve Gun opsts.
Great interest II manifested, among
scientists % the resuirsoi Published
statement Of oftProfessoraEdwin b. Frost
director Of thss Yerkss. observatory, to
the effect thaeI1t has ibeen determined
that the -sol~ constant u in fact q
variable quantity ana that the effect
Of the change ID not appreciable on
earth until % long,as six'months after
the change.
For this 1eason Professor Frost Il Of
the opinion that eventually 1t may be
possible 70 detsrmine general weather
conditions that far ahead-in other
words, that careful observations Of go
lar conditions will indicate what con-
ditions may prevail, ION the earth later.
In addition - the observations made
by Professor Vfost similar obsesva-,
lions have besn made by Professor II.
81. Nmbail for the government at the
station on Mount weather.
In his statsnsnt Professor Frost de-
clares that carsf1l observations indi-
cate that the late Professor g. p. Lang
ley placed his estimate for tho amount
Of heat absorption By the earth at too
high q ngure.
Profssspe LanoIey's Dsvioss.
Professor Frost in bis statement
comments on the ingenious devices in
vented BY Professor Langley, by which
he measured the suns heat, and on the
discoveries Of O. G. Abbott and f. e.
Fowle, who for the past ten years
have been conducting their invesdga-
lions at sea level and at Mount Whit
ney Q4500 feet, and Mount Wilson
5000 feets, In southern California. He
goes on to say:
The most striking result Of these in
vsshEahons is the discovery by Alb
bott ana Fowle that the solar con.
stanf is not q constant, but variable
lin other words. that our sun 10
variable star, like hundreds and thou
sands Of others in the sky.
ut was nearly ten years ago that
these Investigators found evidence that
the radiation of the sun was not steady
from day 70 dag, and ten years Of
work has been devoted to determining
whether these apparent variations
were really In the sun Or due to er-
rors Of observation or to ductuadon in
tho absorption BY the earth's atmo-
sphere They now feel justified in
stating that these fluctuations ara real.
and are In tho sun itself, amounting
to 8 per cent 0r moro In q period OF I
week Or ten days
"Obssrvations for sun spots have
now besn made long enough 50 that
we know that they are more numerous
every eleven years, slowly declining
mum number about seven years later
and then rising again to maximum
about four years after the minimum.
Importance Of the Discovery.
1.-THE Importance Of this discovery Of
the variation In the SUMS heat is prob
ably obvious to the reader. The In
habitants Of the earth are entirely de-
pendent for their existence upon the
results OF agricultural work. and moth
ing is more certain than that the ra-
diation from the sun lies at the basis
of the principal weather elements In
the earth's atmosphere.
1T should not be inferred that
sudden startling change In the suns
radiation produces an immediate effect
in the terrestrial temperatures. The
earth's atmosphere takes up these
changes and gradually communicates
them to the earth's surface. How soon
and to what degree remain to be in.
vestigated
Continuous study. extended per-
haps over many years, will be required
to determine II these changes in ra-
diation can be predicted in advance
and If the laws can be determined
which govern them. It is evidently q
most practical problem, touching the
interests OF every inhabitant Of the
earth"