The Washington times., 1922-12-03

rs the North Pole going to melt! Are
the Arctic regions warming up, with
prospect of great climatic change in
that part of the worldl
Science is asking these questions. Re-
ports from fishermen, seal hunters and ex-
plorers who sail the seas about Spitz-
bergen and the eastern Arctic all point
to radical change in climatic conditions,
with hitherto unheard-of high tempera-
lures on that part of the earth's surface
Observations to that effect have covered
the last five years during which the
warmth has been steadily increasing. In
August of this year the Norwegian De-
partment of Commerce sent an expedition
to Spitzbergen and Bear Island under tho
leadership of DR.. Adolf Hoel, professor OF
geology in the University Of Christiania,
the object in view being to survey and
chart areas productive of coal and other
minerals. The expedition sailed as far
north as 81 deg. 29 min. N. latitude in
ice free water Such q thing, hitherto,
would have been deemed impossible.
The United States Consul at Bergen,
Norway, Mr.. III, has sent a report to
our own Department Of Commerce which
speaks of the recent extraordinary warmth
in the Arctic. He quotes incidentally the
statements Of CAPTAIN Martin Ingebrigt-
sen, a mariner who has sailed those seas
fifty-four years. :;hc cap,a,n ays that he
first noted an unusual warmth in 1918;
and since then temperatures have risen
steadily higher. To-day the eastern
Arctic is "hardly recognizable as the same
region of 1868 to 1917"
Many of the old landmarks are greatly
altered, or no longer exist. Where for
merly there were great masses Of ice,
these have melted away, leaving behind
them accumulations Of earth and stones
such as geologists call "moraines." At
many points where glaciers extended far
into the sea half dozen years ago they
have now entirely. disappeared.
The change in temperature has brought
great changes in the plant life and animal
lie of the Arctic. Formerly vast shoals
of whitefish were found in the waters
about Spitzbergen, hut last Summer the
fishermen sought them in vain. Seals,
have almost entirely disappeared. u
would seem az IL the ocean must have bc.
come uncomfortably warm for some OF
its denizens which formerly frequented
those latitudes, causing them to flock
northward toward the Pole A.
On the other hand, other kinds Of fishes,
hitherto unknown 80 far north, have made
their appearance. Shoals OF sn1elt have
arrived, and immense schools OF herring
xnl hx, Aoh "a An alnn0 the west
coast of Spitzhergen
Formerly the waters about Spitzbergen
have held an even Summer temperature In
the neighborhood Of degrees above
freezing. This year it rose ~ high as 2S
degrees. Last Winter the ocean did not
freeze over even on the north coast Of
Spitzbergen. This il on the authority OF
DR.. Hoel.
This state of affairs Is a cxuse Of much
surnr;so and even astonishment to
scientists, who wonder whether the change
is merely temporary or the beginning ofa
great alteration Of climatic conditions In
the Arctic. with consequent melting OF the
polar ice sheet. !.
that has come over the climate In the
Arctic regions may be best undcrstood py
the struggles Of the early explorers 70
discover the northwest passage, or the
North America, leading eventually to
India. This passage was first under
taken by way Of Spitzbergen, but the
thick ice repeatedly beat back the ships
of the explorers.
From exploits to discover the north
west passage many Of the trips for t.s
conquest Of the North Pole were 'eventu-
ally undertaken.
Parry, the great British explorer, was
first to negotiate the open passage be-
tween Greenland and Bering Sea, reach
ing halfway across the top Of North
America before ne was hedged In by the
ice, and with supplies becoming low, dared
90 no further.
He was FIRST to discover the north mag
nctic pole and to report the astonishing
fact that the needle Of his compass turned
and pointed directly south. For these
discoveries Parry was awarded about
$4,000 by the British Government and
unouestionably his conquesss in the frozen
Arctic led to the actual penetrating Of
the northwest passage from the Atlantic
to the Pacific by Mcclure, Collinson and
Apundseu later on.