Evening star., 1942-09-22
War Autumn

The suns direct rays have crossed
the Equator. Autumn has come to
the Northern Hemisphere. Beyond
the Arctic Circle, the sun has dipped
below the horizon, and in the remote
polar regions, winters icy legions are
already gathering in darkness and
cold. With growing swiftness, the
polar chill will rush southwark on
the wings of northerly gales, sleet
and snow. Though still distant from
our temperate climes, winter Is on
the way And even In the Subtropics,
there will be seasonal changes of
dryneSs or rainfall. Conversely, in
the Southern Hemisphere, this equi-
nox heralds spring. So everything
there is In reverse, with summer in
the offing.
All this has a vital bearing on the
course Of the planet-wide struggle
In which mankind is engaged. Never
before has the influence Of the
weather on war been more appre-
ciated or better understood. Every
battle ground is, to some extent, af-
fected by the climatic changes that
are now taking place, while for some
OF them the weather will be a major
factor.
Especially is this true in Russia.
The climate of European Russia re-
sembles somewhat that of the central
portion of our own continent, includ-
ing both the Mississippi Valley and
adjacent Canada. There is the same
interminal stretch of land from
north to south, with no mountain
barriers to break the prodigious
sweeps of cold from the Arctic In
winter and of heat in summer from
warm regions. The chief difference
is that the Russian winter is longer
| and more severe. Even Southern
Russia is distinctly cold. The mid
winter climate of Stalingrad ap-
proximates that of Minneapolis and
| st. Paul, while even Astrakhan at the
mouth Of the Volga and tempered
by the Caspian Sea, is slightly colder
than st. Louis in the wintertime.
Only in the Crimea and the region
south Of the Caucasus do mountain
barriers shut off the north winds and
afford really mild winter seasons.
However, winter campaigning in
Southern Russia is not handicapped
by those extremely low temperatures
which froze the German synthetic
oils and cracked the German syn
thetic rubber on the Moscow and
Leningrad fronts last year, thus dis
rupting their highly mechanized war
machine. But in Northern Russia,
General Winter will take command
as before, while on the Arctic Sea
front the long nights and storms will
greatly improve the chances of
Anglo-American conveys bound for
Murmansk and Archangel.
In North Africa, winter is the ideal
campaigning season, when the blast
ing heat of summer gives place tc
relatively cool weather. The same is
even truer Of potential fighting
grounds in the Near and Middle East
In India, autumn ends the monsoon
rains and gales which, during the
summer months, interfere with land
sea and air activities alike. 1t may
therefore give the japanese the sig.
nal for an attempt to invade a coun.
try filled with discomfort and unrest
) In the full tropics of New Guine;
and the Solomon Islands, winter i
only a name, but Australia, being IL
the antipodes, is entering it's sprinl
and summer, with all that thes,
imply.
Such are merely the climatic higl
lights of the wartime months that lii
i. ahead. But remembering the eli
' matte factor will make it easier TO
y us to evaluate the conditions unde
which pending campaigns will b
,, fought. We may be sure that tn
rival general stats have the Weathe
\ always very much in mind