Farthest North, Vol. I: Being the Record of a Voyage of Exploration of the Ship 'Fram' 1893-1896Nansen, Fridtjof
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Farthest North, Vol. I: Being the Record of a Voyage of Exploration of the Ship 'Fram' 1893-1896
Nansen, Fridtjof
"Fram" Expedition (1893-1896); Arctic regions -- Discovery and exploration; Nansen, Fridtjof, 1861-1930 -- Travel -- Arctic regions
"Thursday, January 18th. The wind that began yesterday has gone on
blowing all to-day with a velocity of 16 to 19 feet per second, from
S.S.E., S.E., and E.S.E. It has no doubt helped us on a good way north;
but it seems to be going down; now, about midnight, it has sunk to
4 metres; and the barometer, which has been rising all the time, has
suddenly begun to fall; let us hope that it is not a cyclone passing
over us, bringing northerly wind. It is curious that there is almost
always a rise of the thermometer with these stronger winds; to-day it
rose to 13° Fahr. below zero (-25° C). A south wind of less velocity
generally lowers the temperature, and a moderate north wind raises
it. Payer's explanation of this raising of the temperature by strong
winds is that the wind is warmed by passing over large openings in
the ice. This can hardly be correct, at any rate in our case, for
we have few or no openings. I am rather inclined to believe that the
rise is produced by air from higher strata being brought down to the
surface of the earth. It is certain that the higher air is warmer
than the lower, which comes into contact with snow and ice surfaces
cooled by radiation. Our observations go to prove that such is the
case. Add to this that the air in its fall is heated by the rising
pressure. A strong wind, even if it does not come from the higher
strata of the atmosphere, must necessarily make some confusion in the
mutual position of the various strata, mixing the higher with those
below them, and vice versa.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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