Evening star., 1941-06-07
Of Stars, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Laboratory, Field
And Study
BIZ Thomas r. Henry.


Retreat of glaciers the world over Is
evidence of a major climatic change
since the middle of the last half century
This is the conclusion of J. B.
Kincer, chief of the climatology division
of the United States Weather Bureau,
| after analyzing reports of the Inter-
] national Glacier Commission, whose
work over most of the earth temporarily
has been suspended by the war.
The evidence clinches, he says, that
of local weather records in both the
| United States and Europe which have
been the subject of much debate in
recent years. The diminishing of the
ice can only mean trend to warmer
| climates the world over.
Primarily, Mr.. Kincer says, the glacial
! retreat must be considered an effect
and not cause. Disappearance of ice.
however, helps the process along so
that a cycle is set up. The phenomenon
probably means, he thinks, that the
earth is getting back to about the same
sort of climate it enjoyed at the start
| of the 10Th century. There can be little
| question that winters we're colder in
granGmother's day but warmer in great
great-great grandmother's day. The
American Revolution, his records show,
was fought in relatively warm period
The winter of Valley Forge probably
was bad one, but on the whole Wash
ingtor's ragged troops had the benefit
of mild weather
The present trend, Mr.. Kincer stresses,
can be considered only as one episode
in the long retreat of the earth out of
the last ice age to climate in which
the vegetation of Greenland will be close
to that of Virginia, as was the case
a few million years ago. There will be
new cold spells succeeded by new warm
periocs-but each Of these may be a
little warmer than the last
The systematic measuring of glacier
oscillations from year to year now has
been carried on in the United States
since 1881. In Europe it was started
in 1894 and has been continued ever
since, except for the intermission of
the first World War.
Successful searches made in the
archives of the town of Chamonix at
the foot of Mont Blanc have served to
extend the record of glaciers in the
French Alps back to 1880 and for the
first time have made II clear that the
genera, recession of those glaciers which
has been in progress during the past
few decades set in shortly after the
middle of the 18th century.
Before this, the Chamonix records
show, there had been an epoch of rela-
tiveiy great glacier extension which
lasted, with minor fluctuations, about
$50 years. The glaciers of the French
Alps now are merely receding back to
the position they occupied toward the
end of the 18th century.
A recent search of old records in
| Iceland has succeeded in tracing the
history of glacier oscillations back to
675, when the Norsemen established
their first colonies there. 1t reveals that
the present recession of the ice on that
island also began shortly after the mid
ole of the 18th century. Recent obser-
vations on the Klinaklini and Franklin
glaciers in British Columbia show that
they now are receded from a maximum
advance that must have occurred shortly
after the middle of the 10Th century.
Says Mr.. Kincer: Our longest
weather records. extending back in some
cases to the latter part of the 18th
century, show conclusively that since
about the middle of the 10th century,
corresponding to the current glacier re-
cession mentioned in the report, there
has been a marked tendency to higher
temperatures than formerly, the upward
trend being especially marked in the
last few decades. Figures for the city
of Washington for the decade 1929 1898
inclusive, show that IS per cent of the
l20 months had above normal tempera-
lures 90 per cent of the 40 seasons
were warmer than normal, and for a
yea as a whole there was not a single
minus departure of temperature.
The rise of temperature in the fall
season has been especially marked. The
beginning of the rise agrees we'll with
the beginning of glacier recessions.
Data for Europe show general trend
to higher temperatures especially mark
eo SlIlCe Une turn OF the century, in
accord with findings in the Western
Hemisphere Monthly records for about
400 well-diStributed stations throughout
the world for the % years from 1910
TO 1881 show that during this period
the world as a whole has had subnormal
temperatures in only two years, normal
in three and considerably above in all
other years. Thus 80 per cent of the
years had temperatures decidedly above
normal
This longtime climatic trend has
much economic significance For ex-
ample. the 10-year average length of
the crop-growing season, represented by
the days between the last killing frost
in spring and the last in fall, for South
eastern Iowa in the early thirties was
20 days longer than a like average in
the carly nineties Residents of WASH
ington during the last 10 years have
required artificial heat in winter COM
parable to requirements in Southern
tral Virginia some 40 years ago."
Comments on Pasteur Treatment
And Persons Not Treated.