Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1906. SCIENCE OF THE WEATHER.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXVIII, Issue 7023, 10 November 1906, Page 2

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1906. SCIENCE OF THE WEATHER.

It is not likely that men will ever be able to mate weather to suit themselves; nor is it likely that they would succeed were they placed in a position to make the attempt. To do so would imply the easy and perpetual possession of knowledge, sympathy and power far beyond the volatile entity which is known as the mind of man. Yet the same mind may, by close and comprehensive observation, careful analysis and apt application, corns to know and understand the weather so well, that men will cease to be at its mefcy. The still undeveloped science of meteorology aims at this consummation, and the sooner, it achieveß it the better it will be for the great productive industries on which we all depend for health, prosperity and life. What is needed ia not the scrappy information that lets the farmer or the navigator know of extreme changes oaly a few hours before they happen, but whole months beforehand; and there is reason to believe that meteorology will ere long attain to this perfection. In America, in India and in Australia much h<is already been done in this matter. In Australia, lately, the Federal Parliament passed a Meteorology Bill, which provides for uniformity of action and endeavour throughout the States of ,the Commonwealth. A uniform system for the collection and distribution of weather reports is provided for, and also improved inter-communioation with other countries, with respect to the weather. A cable message states that Mr Hunt, of the Sydney Observatory, haa just been appointed Federal Moteorologist, and as he is a man of talent and experience, the Commonwealth Weather Bureau will probably become associated with valuable research and the formulation of rules whioh will be of service even beyond Australia.

This, indeed, is quite a probable result. One important faofr, whioh was established years ago by the Meteorological Department of India, is that th6re is a close conneo'ion between the weather in India and the weather in Australia. Climatio conditions are singularly alike at times in both coantriep, and a wet seaaon in one is usually followed by a season of floods in the other. For instance, the trade wind seems to begin off the coast of West Australia, and its character is believed to be largely due to the land conditions of the Australian continent. Hence, as the trade wind depends on conditions in Australia, the Indian monsoon on the trade wind, and the seasons in India on the monsoon, Australian meteorologists should receive help from the labours of their Indian brethren, and vice versa. That this relationship subsists is proved by the cinumstance that when the trade wind is jweak, the Indian monsoon is light, and drought prevails in both countries; while a strong trade wind means a heavy monsoon, accompanied respectively by very heavy rains, or it may be disastrous floods. With respect to our3elve?, these are in no sense foreign or unimportant matters, for the weather in Australia more or less affects the weather in New Zealand, so that the correlation of Indian and Australian conditions is of vital interest to Now Zealanderg. It follows that the farmere—and indeed all the people—of this colony are directly interested in such a study of the climatic conditions of Australia and India rs is likely to bring the science of meteorology nearer to perfection. This, as we have said, means much more than scrappy information that lets the farmer or navigator know of extreme changes a few hours before they happen; for a true science of tho weather must furnish seasonable forecasts not only for mariners, but also for inland districts—such forecasts as would, in the latter case, enable pastoralists and farmers to prepare for fioodß or drought. This would be of incalculable benefit to all oipable of taking advantage of it,