McCormick messenger. (McCormick, S.C.) 1902-current, August 27, 1936, Image 3
McCORMICK MESSENGER, McCORMICK, S. C., THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 1936
EXPERT EXPLAINS“WEATHER”
Famous Scientist Takes Weather Apart to See What Makes It Act
So Peculiarly; Scoffs at Professional Rainmakers.
By DR. FRANK THONE <^-
Science Service Staff Writer
' What makes the weather?
And what makes the weather act so mean at times?
Whenever we get too much weather of one kind, as we have been
during the past few weeks (or as we did of its opposite, last winter)
we are apt to ask these questions. Sometimes in the brittle temper
that persistent heat engenders, sometimes in dogged hopelessness—
but we really w r ould like to know a little about it, as if that would
make our discomfort a trifle easier to endure.
Science cannot answer all weather questions, for science, and the
t science of weather in particular, is still “too young to know" all the
answers. But science can answer some of them.
That weather happens at all
due to three interacting factors: the
warming sun, the turning earth, and
the presence of an atmosphere on
our planet. Where the sun shines
it gets warm: we’ve all noticed
that. Where the sun shines on the
An Awesome Picture of a Tornado
One of Weather’s Freaks.
air, the air gets warm. Anything
that is warmed expands and there
by becomes lighter.
Air rises when th^us expanded and
lightened, becausd cooler, denser
air from somewhere else tends to
flow in under it and boost it up,
thus working toward a restoration
of the disturbed equilibrium. Since
the sun shines straightest and hot
test near the equator, and has less
heating effect near the poles, the
general tendency is for the cool,
heavy air to flow southward along
the surface, while the rising, cooler
air flows northward over it.
If the earth stood perfectly still
and had a perfectly smooth and
uniform surface, and if the warm
ing sun went round and round it
(as in the ancient Ptolemaic astron
omy), the surface wind would al
ways be straight from the north,
and the upper-air wind straight to
ward the north.
Two Forces Act Together
But the earth turns on its axis,
and it doesn’t hang onto the air as
tightly as it does to land and water,
so that the air tends to slip a little.
If the north-and-south circulation
set up by the warming sun did not
exist, this turning of the earth
would give us a wind straight out
of the west, all the way to the top
of the atmosphere. But as it is, the
two forces act on the air together,
causing an air-movement general
trend from northwest to southeast
in the northern hemisphere, and
from southwest to northeast in the
southern.
. But this is not all of the picture.
The surface of the earth is not per
fectly smooth and uniform. It has
mountain ranges sticking up here
and there, which act as paddle
wheels or blades to cause further
deflections in air current directions.
And it has alternations of irregu
larly shaped oceans and continents,
deserts and forests, which load dif
ferent air masses with differing
amounts of water, and also act dif
ferently in squeezing that water out
of them again, condensed into rain
or snow.
The facts, then, rough out the
broad framework of the world’s
weather-machine. In its details it
becomes terrifically complicated. Is
it any wonder that the weather
sometimes gives even the experts
who devote their lives to it a head
ache?
Is the Climate Changing?
What is climate, anyway? What
is the difference between climate
and weather?
These questions puzzle a lot of
people. There is a difference be
tween them, all right, though the
dividing line is not knife-sharp.
J. B. Kincer of the United States
Weather Bureau puts it this way:
“Climate is the general run, or
sum total of weather, and that sum
total does not seem to be under
going any fundamental changes.
Weather is the phase of climate
that we experience from day to day
and week to week, or even year to
year. Therefore, weather varies, of
ten abruptly from day to day, due
to vast changes in air mass move
ments. In other words, climate is
relatively stable; weather erratic.”
Thus, we can speak of the climate
as a more or less dependable thing.
If you go to England in autumn, of
course you take umbrella and rub
bers; if you go to Southern Califor
nia in summer, equally of course
you do not. You count on the cli
mate. Yet there might be a sudden
erratic shift in weather, that would
sizzle you in London in September,
or drench you in Hollywood in June.
Climates do change, but not in a
human lifetime, or even in a whole
row of generations. Permanent cli
matic changes are jobs for the mil
lennia. It is suspected that the cli
mate of northern Africa was
moister 10,000 years ago than it is
now, but we are not certain. The
climate of Ohio was once like that
of Greenland—but that was a mat
ter of a million years. iTie climate
of Greenland was once like that of
Ohio—but that was even longer ago.
•
Cycles Are Irregular
Climate does have its fluctuations
—that is, prolonged “spells of
weather” of one kind, followed by
equally prolonged “spells” of op
posite sign. These are the “cycles”
you hear talked about. About every
thirty or forty years there is a cli
max of drought, like the one we
are having now. In between, there
will be an opposite climax of wet
years. There may be other cycles
within these, and perhaps, even
longer ones outside them; but all
the cycles are too irregular in ar
rival and duration to permit of de
pendable prediction just yet.
Those of us who can remember
back to the early nineties will re
call the bankrupting drought that
scourged the country then. And an
To those anxious queries, certain
pessimistic souls are singing the
answer, in a doleful minor key: “It
ain’t gonna rain no mo’!” Neverthe
less, it will: it always does rain,
eventually.
But assurance that rain will c^me
is not an explanation of its coming.
What does make rain?
Altitude Has Effect
Rain is the offspring of the mar
riage of contrasts. It comes when
warm, moist air meets something
cold. The something may be a land
mass lying athwart a moist sea
wind. The higher the land the
harder the rain, other things being
equal. That is why the rains of
England and Ireland are gentle and
moderate, and that is why precip
itation is heavier, and frequently
much more violent as well, on such
mountain heights as the Himalayas
and the top of Mauna Kea in
Hawaii.
But in normal seasons we get
plenty of rain, and frequently quite
violent rainstorms as well, in re
gions where there are no mountains
at all—the open sea, and the wide
lowlands of the central United
States. Why there?
Even in mountainless lands there
are what might be called meteoro
logical mountains. They are masses
of cold air, migrating dowri from
the Arctic and meeting the warm,
moisture - laden air migrating up
from the Gulf. The normal thing
when two air masses collide is for
the cooler to plow under the
warmer, lifting it into the air. As it
rises it expands, and as it expands
it cools. When it no longer contains
heat enough to keep the water in
vapor state the water condenses,
first into microscopic droplets or
tiny snowflakes to form clbuds, then
by coalescence of the cloud-drop
lets into drops large enough to fall
as rain.
Frauds Flourish
Can’t we do anything about the
weather? Must we just sit still and
let the rain come when it gets good
and ready?
We can’t. We must. For in spite of
the old and oft-quoted complaint of
Mark Twain, there is as yet nothing
that can be done about the weather.
The usual crop of weather-making
proposals has been harvested of
the drouth. These pseudo-scientific
suggestions always flourish when
all useful growth is scorched with
sun and perishing of thirst. They
grow when even cactus wilts.
Rainmakers need only one kind of
fertilizer: money. They invariably
make the modest proposal: you
pay my expenses while I do the
work, and a bonus for every tenth
of an inch of rain that falls. No rain,
no bonus; only my living and travel
expenses, and the cost of the secret
chemicals used in my formula. If
To a Farmer Like This—the Weather Is All Important.
earlier generation found in a simi
lar climatic depression the spur
that sent them migrating to the
Oregon Territory. Some of those
emigrant trains left wagon-tracks
across the dried bed of Goose lake,
in Oregon. Subsequently the lake
re-filled. But in the drouth of 1934
the tracks were again laid bare. The
cycle had fulfilled itself.
What causes these climatic cy
cles? Nobody knows. Sunspots have
many champions — but also many
opponents. That is one of the things
on which the doctors still disagree
—and the patient is free to suspend
judgment or take sides himself,
according to his own personal tem
perament.
When will it rain? What will make
it rain?
rain falls, they take the credit—
and the cash. If no rain falls, they
still take considerable cash—for
the “secret chemicals” are inva
riably expensive. Heads I win, tails
you lose: what could be a sweeter
racket for a smooth-talking “pro
fessor” with a Van Dyck beard?
Older rain-making methods are
simpler and less expensive—
for their practitioners. The magi
cians of primitive tribes imitate the
sound of thunder with rattles and
drums, or they throw water into the
air, or they nick a vein in the chief’s
arm and let a little blood, or go
through some other “sympathetic”
procedure. But like their more cul
tured colleagues of our own land,
they still get their expenses paid.
© Western Newspaper Union.
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© Bell Syndicate.—WNU Service.
B IOflHIERESTTOI
DIE IKRMIfE
Minced ham and chopped green
pepper makes a tasty filling for
deviled eggs.
* • •
A large piece of blotting paper
placed on the closet floor will ab
sorb moisture from wet rubbers
that may be placed in closet.
e • •
A mixture of one part vinegar
and two parts linseed oil, applied
with a soft cloth to suitcases and
bags will clean and polish them.
* * *
If you wish to boil a cracked
egg place a little vinegar in the
water in which it is boiled. This
will keep the egg from seeping
through the crack in the shell.
* * *
Scorch on cotton or linen may
be removed with soap and water.
Wet the spot with water and ex
pose to the sun for a day or
longer if necessary. The scorch
disappears more rapidly if the
material is moistened first.
• • •
If your garden peas get too
hard for serving in the regular
way, cook them until tender,
press through a sieve and use the
pulp in soup. “ '
• • •
To make white curtains ecru
dip in a solution made by boiling
one tablespoon of black tea in one
quart of water. Strain solution
before using.
© Associated Newspapers.—WNU Service.
Foreign Words ^
and Phrases
A posteriori. (L.) From that
which follows, from effect to
cause.
Au jour le jour. (F.) From
hand to mouth.
Battre la campagne. (F.) To
scour the country; to go on a
fool’s errand.
Ca m’est egal. (F.) It is aff
the same to me.
De profundis. (L.) Out of th«
depths.
En grande tenue. (F.) In full
dress.
Faire la noce. (F.) To have a
gay time; to make a night of it.
Gluckliche Reise. (Ger.) A
pleasant voyage; bon voyage.
J’y suis, j’y reste. (F.) Here
I am, here I stay.—Attributed to
Marshall McMahon in th^
Crimean Redan.
Hie jacet. (L.) Here lies; said
of a deceased person.
Ipse dixit. (L.) He himself
said it; a dogmatic assertion.
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Chicago, III.; Philadelphia, Pa. (51 SO?
O IN UNITED TRIBUTE TO REAR-
ADMIRAL RICHARD EVELYN BYRD,
U. S. N. (Ret.), six hundred mem
bers of American industrial and
scientific groups met at a dinner
on June 5th. They presented to
Admiral Byrd a gold medal in
scribed “American Industry’s
’Tribute.”
On the reverse side, this medal
commemorates the silent courage
of an heroic leader who kept alone
“a six months vigil for meteoro
logical observation at the world’s
southernmost outpost. Before the
middle of the long Antarctic night
he was stricken desperately ill
from the poisonous fumes of a
faulty oil stove. Survival seemed
impossible. He deliberately chose
to die rather than tap out an
S. O. S. on his radio. In fact, he
squandered his strength and les
sened his chance for survival by
painfully hand-cranking his radio
to keep his schedule and report—
‘All’s Well’—to Little America,
lest his silence cause his com
rades to risk their lives coming
to his rescue in the darkness.
For months of the bitterest aver
age cold ever endured, he hung
precariously on the edge of the
abyss. Untold suffering did not-
compel him to alter his decision.
By a miracle he was spared.”
In 22 branches of scientific
knowledge the world is richer be
cause Byrd and his comrades ad
ventured into the Antarctic. But
far beyond this the world is en
riched by the character of these
courageous men ... led by a
man who silently challenged
death in one of the great deeds
of all time ... It is in enduring
recognition of such rare leader
ship that the medal presented to
him is inscribed “Dick Byrd-
Gallant Gentleman.”
r
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- -- .
■■ j
Tv
-HI
HOUSEKEEPING AT THE WORLD’S SOUTHERNMOST OUTPOST
In this tiny hut, buried under ice
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through months of darkness with the
temperature 80 below zero.
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Phillips Delicious Foods were ap
proved and carried on both the 1928
and 1933 Byrd Antarctic Expeditions.
They have never had endorsement
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PHILLIPS ^^wFOODS