Page:Weather Facts and Predictions.djvu/23

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15

Similarly, dry winds from a continent bring cold in winter and heat in summer.

The Equatorial current becomes a more moist wind as it proceeds N. [Because it loses heat, and therefore approaches nearer the point of saturation, or, as some have it, because it is blowing from regions of much moisture to regions where moisture is less.]

The Polar current becomes a more dry wind as it proceeds S. [Because it gains heat, and therefore recedes from the point of saturation, or, as some have it, because it is blowing from regions deficient in moisture to regions of much moisture.]

Hence in England the S.W.[1] wind is particularly moist [because it is both an oceanic and an Equatorial wind], and the N.E.[1] wind is particularly dry. [Because it is both a Polar and a continental current.]

Western borders of continents in the N. temperate zone where the prevailing wind is S.W. enjoy a comparatively high temperature in winter. [Because they are protected from extreme cold by the warmth brought by the said wind from the ocean in their proximity, and they are further protected by their moist atmosphere and clouded skies.]

But in the interior of the continent it is otherwise. [Because the S.W. wind getting colder and drier as it advances, the soil is exposed to the full effects of radiation during the long winter nights, and as the ground is for the most part covered with snow, little


  1. 1.0 1.1 Why currents N. and S. at their origin become N.E. and S.W. by the time they arrive in Britain, is a question of physical geography. The fact is due to the Earth's rotation.