WEATHER OBSERVATION

Evening Star, Issue 21819, 7 September 1934, Page 10

WEATHER OBSERVATION

STATIONS IN ANTARCTICA SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY'S HANDSOME SUPPORT GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE NOW SOUGHT “ One society, whoso identity ! cannot disclose, has realised the importance of the meteorological plan, and has promised to give 1,000,000d0l yearly for ten years, provided the Governments of South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and South America think the scheme is worth-while, and provide £250,000 for the establishment of twelve observation stations in the Antarctic,” stated Sir Hubert Wilkins in an address to members of the University Club to-day, when the Australian scientist was entertained at lunch. Sir Hubert, after a glowing tribute to the memory of the late Sir Edgeworth David as professor and explorer, referred to the aid which meteorological observations in the Arctic had given to predicting of the seasons. The disadvantages which were suffered by Norwegian industries in war time, when these observations had to be curtailed, convinced that people that all the money spent on them was a good investment. The Russians also had attached a very special value to the knowledge that could be obtained froVn the Far North. Stefannson, in ‘ The Friendlv Arctic,’ had been the first to plead a few years ago that those regions could be made habitable for industrial purposes, and crops were being grown now where that would have been thought impossible before. He recalled that people in North America lived at times during the winter at temperatures below those of the Antarctic. He had been in Winnipeg, where there was modern civilisation, when the temperature was 58deg below zero. If they could suit the conditions to the mode of living they could live as comfortably in the Polar regions as in Winnipeg, North and South Dakota, and some parts of Russia. In North Spitsbergen Russians, Norwegians, and the Dutch were producing coal of great values, the miners finding the conditions comfortable, there being no dampness in the mines. Everything was frozen. In the Norwegian and Dutch camps the men were isolated from companionship, but the Russians took their wives to the camp, in which female labour was also employed. The Russians enjoyed all comforts of life, and in the mess an orchestra of forty played while 400 dined. Nowhere in the world had a more gigantic coalfield than that in the Antarctic been found. The deposit was ascertained to be forty feet thick, and extended over an area of 100 miles. There seemed a possibility of carrying out economic work in Antarctica, but whether New Zealand and Australia would ever require to go there for their coal supplies he was unable to say. ~ When he set out in the submarine for the Arctic some thought that he had reached the point of absurdity in polar exploration, and that the submarine trip was a newspaper stunt. It was in line with the plan laid before the Royal Meteorological Society in 1921 for general research in the polar regions, both north and south, where conditions were interdependent. By co-relation of the observations in all temperatures, it would be possible to forecast the world’s climates. The plan of twelve Antarctic stations alone would not give the forecast, but without them a comprehensive picture of the world’s climatic movements would be impossible of attainment. The value of reliable forecasting, they would realise, was illimitable, all kinds of industries being affected. When his plan was first propounded he had only 1 per cent, of sympathy from scientists; but scientists and the man in the street now realised that the establishment of the stations was necessary. On his recent world trip requests for an immediate start .on the research work in the Antarctic had been made to him, and Australian professors were now willing to support the plan, having realised its economic value. He hoped to return again from the Antarctic to get the support of all scientific groups in Australia and New Zealand for the research work, which would call for sustained effort. His hope was to maintain five meteorological stations in the Arctic and twelve in the Antarctic for one sun-cycle period. One society, whose identity he could not disclose, had realised the importance of the plan and had promised to give 1,000,000 dollars yearly for ten years provided the Governments of South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and South America thought the scheme worthwhile, and provided £250,000 for the establishment of the stations.

Sir Hubert was thanked for his address.