Evening star., 1923-05-11
|Scorching Summer Likely Despite
Cold Start, Sun S Specialist Predicts

Cheer up! The worst is not to
come. Don't pawn the panama. for
there are no signs Of a chilly sum-
mertime. And by no means is the
sun surrendering his portfolio as
campfire to the earth.
This today from the scientist who
recently was credited with predict
ing cold summer and suggesting
the gradual cooling off of old Sol.
He is Dr. Charles Greeley Abbot, in
charge of the astrophysical observa-
sonian Institution, and said to know
more about solar radiation than any
other man in the world.
DR.. Abbot does believe, however,
that there is a close relation between
the suns radiation and the weather,
and that the present vexatious be-
havior of the climate over the country
generally is due partly at least to a
gradual decrease in solar heat since
November, 1921.
But l see no probability of the
radiation falling any further" he as
serted, smiling, "and it may be back
to normal within month or sooner.
1t was just this low in 1913, and you
know there have been heat prostra-
tions since
Asked if the present great number
of sun spots" might not portend a
cold summer, he laughed aloud.
Spots on Sun.
Where did you get the idea that
there are many spots on the SUM-" he
inquired. why. there are very, very
few spots. We have reached the sun
spot minimum. Really. that usually
means a fraction of a degree warmer
weather"
This markedly cantankerous wealth
er, he explained, was expected by him
and his colleagues. Observations of
the suns radiation had been made
it began to decline sharply. Down.
down, down it went until in October
last year the suns heat was three per
cent less than when the drop began.
And it has been diving to still weak er
levels since.
Il looked for something extraordi-
nary in the way of weather." he con-
fessed, "and aren't we having 1t,
thought"
Yet this summer may be the hot
test on record.
Talk about the sun losing its heat"
he exclaimed, why, the old chaps
been at his desk in the armament for
thousands of years and hasn't been
found wanting"
They are planting the same crops
in the fields of Egypt now as they
did when King Tutankhamen laughed
and grew fat upon the produce of
those fields, he said.
Some day he hoped trustworthy
weather predictions may be made as
a result of his labors.
Only Start Made.
But we've been measuring radia-
tion so short a time" he said, that
it would be foolishness to base pre-
dictionS on our data. DIR. s. P. Lang
ley, who is more famous for his work
on the airplane, started these solar
radiation experiments. I followed
him. No other organization in the
world is doing 1t. Walt q few thou
sand years, and then astrophysicists
can tell you something. They'll have
some data"
Sun spots, blamed for everything
In history. have been returning to
blot the suns escutcheon on an av-
erage of once every eleven years
since they were discovered by Galileo
800 years ago.
Think of the sun as a bed of red
hot GOALS" he suggested. You take
poker, stick 1t into the Goals and
stir them up. You get a sun spot. 1t
denotes great activity in the sun and
causes an increase in radiation. How
ever, 1T is usually cooler on earth,
probably because the spots cause a