In this connection a suggestion which is elaborated in Chapter XIII may be mentioned. At present the salinity of the oceans checks the general deep-sea circulation and thereby increases the contrasts from zone to zone. In the past, however, the ocean must have been fresher than now. Hence the circulation was presumably less impeded, and the transfer of heat from low latitudes to high was facilitated. Consider now the magnitude of the probable effect of a diminution in storms. Today off the coast of Norway in latitude 65 deg.N. and longitude 10 deg.E., the mean temperature in January is 2 deg.C. and in July 12 deg.C. This represents a plus anomaly of about 22 deg. in January and 2 deg. in July; that is, the Norwegian coast is warmer than the normal for its latitude by these amounts. Suppose that in some past time the present distribution of lands and seas prevailed, but Norway was a lowland where extensive deposits could accumulate in great flood plains. Suppose, also, that the sun's atmosphere was so inactive that few cyclonic storms occurred, steady winds from the west-southwest prevailed, and strong, uninterrupted ocean currents brought from the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico much greater supplies of warm water than at present. The Norwegian winters would then be warmer than now not only because of the general increase in temperature which the earth regularly experiences at sunspot minima, but because the currents would accentuate this condition. In summer similar conditions would prevail except that the warming effect of the winds and currents would presumably be less than in winter, but this might be more than balanced by the increased heat of the sun during the long summer days, for storms and clouds would be rare. If such conditions raised the winter temperature only 8 deg.C. and the summer temperature 4 deg.C., the climate would be as warm as that of the northern island of New Zealand (latitude 35 deg.-43 deg.S.). The flora of that part of New Zealand is subtropical and includes not only pines and beeches, but palms and tree ferns. A climate scarcely warmer than that of New Zealand would foster a flora like that which existed in far northern latitudes during some of the milder geological periods. If, however, the general temperature of the earth's surface were raised 5 deg. because of the scarcity of storms, if the currents were strong enough so that they increased the present anomaly by 50 per cent, and if more persistent sunshine in summer raised the temperature at that season about 4 deg.C., the January temperature would be 18 deg.C. and the July temperature 22 deg.C. These figures perhaps make summer and winter more nearly alike than was ever really the case in such latitudes. Nevertheless, they show that a diminution of storms and a consequent strengthening and steadying of the southwesterlies might easily raise the temperature of the Norwegian coast so high that corals could flourish within the Arctic Circle.