A Work Which May Change a Country's Climate

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 129, 3 June 1933, Page 16

A Work Which May Change a Country's Climate

The Eastern Siberian and Manehurian climates may be improved and Vladivostok cleared of fog if the Soviet goes ahead with a plan designed to alter the flow of the currents in the Sea of Japan by building a dam across the Gulf of Tartary. Two ocean currents profoundly affect the climates of Japan and Eastern Siberia. One, the warm Tsushima current, flows north through the Korea Strait into the Sea of Japan, washes the shores of the Japanese Islands Honshu and Hokkaido, v and'thus accounts for their agreeable climate. The other current, which is cold, flows •outh from Okhotsk Sea and chills the eastern coast of, Siberia and Manchuria and with it the famous port of Vladivostok. The effect of the two currents is revealed by the mean temperature of Vladivostok, which is 4.3 degrees C. (39.7 degrees P.), and of Hokkaido, which is 7 degrees C. (44.6 degrees P.). Both have the same latitude. While the eastern coast of Hokkaido is free from ice the year round, Vladivostok is kept open only with the aid of icebreakers during the threo winter months. '■ A Kussian engineer, Avdejev, has laid before the officials of the Soviet Union a plan for damming the narrows between Sakhalin and ' the Siberian mainland and thus sending the cold current from the north, round into the Pacific and raising the temperature of the Eastern Siberian coast, with incalculable economic and social consequences. The "New York Times" said the building of tho dam would be no great engineering feat.. The narrows to be blocked measure only 3.6 miles. Of this distance, only one-third lies under more than 20 feet of water. The technical difficulties offered by the tides and the strong current could be easily overcome. Locks would enable ships to pass

through the dam, so that there would be no interference with navigation. If thefioviet Union decides to carry out the project, the climate of Eastern Siberia and Manchuria would be noticeably improved. The mean annual temperature woujd be rais,ed from 2 to , 4 degrees C. (3.6 to 7.2 degrees I 1.). Summer would be longer than it is. Immigrants would be attracted to a country which is now considered one of the bleakest on earth, but which has immense, possibilities because of its water power and its agricultural resources. A change of the Eastern Siberian and Manehurian climate means more than a raising of temperature and a slackening of the rigours of winter. For about 80 days in the warm season Vladivostok is wrapped in a fog dense enough to be a menace to navigation—a f6g which is created by the meeting of the cold and warm currents. If a dam were built from Sakhalin to the mainland, the fog would disappear and there would he more rain. The annual precipitation of Vladivostok is now said to be but 57 centimetres (22.44 inches), which is regarded as somewhat below normal. Moreover, the port's economic importance . would be heightened by clear weather. Avdejev's project calls for a Tailway and a highway across the dam. Thus the rich coal, petroleum, and iron deposits of the northern part of Sakhalin would become more readily available. The mouth of the Amur would lose much of its present importance as a harbour (Nikolaevsk), inasmuch as it would be frozen for an even longer period than at present. This difficulty Avdejev would overcome by building 60 miles south of the dam a new harbour (Khabarovsk), which would be connected with the projected Sakhalin Eailway and which would thus facilitate the- transportation of timber, ore, and coal from the island.