Nexus - 0223 - New Times Magazine-pages

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as with other Arctic explorers before and since, they were amazed When his group was at the 81st parallel, Greely records on page to eventually find further advancement thwarted by the gradual 370: “In its whole extent the valley was barren of snow, and in encroachment of an open polar sea. He writes: "/t is impossible most places was covered with a comparatively luxuriant vegeta- in reviewing the facts which connect themselves with this discov- tion.” At latitude 81°49’, Greely writes on page 372: "I there ery—the melted snow upon the rocks, the crowds of marine birds, caught a butterfly, and saw three skuas, two bumble-bees, and the limited but still advancing vegetable life, the rise of the ther- many flies..." Page 374: "While at this camp, No. 3, we obtained mometer in the water—not to be struck by their bearing on the but little sleep, owing to the large swarms of flies... On rising at 2 question of a milder climate near the pole. To refer them all to the am, the temperature was found to be very high, 48° (8.9°C), witha . modification of temperature induced by the proximity of open _ minimum of 47° (7.8°C) since the preceding evening... In this lake water is only to change the form of the question; for it leaves the also there were many small minnows..." Page 376: “Corporal inguiry unsatisfied: what is the cause of the open water?" Salor brought in with his willows two small pieces of unworked About 130 years later we have these remarks from the Russian pine wood... Nearby I discovered the former site of an old sum- explorer Vladimir mer encampment of Snegirev in his 1985 the Eskimos." Page On Skis to the North 377: "The sur- Pole: "On May 9 roundings of the they crossed the 86th encampment were parallel... It was a marked by luxuriant Strange thing vegetation of grass, Sorrel, poppies and other plants." Page 378: “The sky was partly covered with true cumulus clouds, quite rare in Arctic heavens...; the tem- perature was high and the gay yellow poppies and other flowers drew to them gaudy butterflies...; he could well imag- ine himself in the roaring forties instead of eight degrees from the geographical pole.” Page 379: "At this point, and in its immediate vicinity, a large number of but-° terflies were seen...facing Ruggles River, three lent that, only three abandoned Eskimo days after the record huts..." Page 383: low, the reading rose to 15 above. ‘That makes a range of 87 "Among other pieces of wood was a pole, nine feet long and about degrees—as much as the annual range over most of the eastern two inches in diameter, of a hard, close-grained, coniferous wood, US"...” probably fir or hard pine.” Page 385: "...a bumble-bee and a On page 144 of his book, Nansen exclaims: “Today we had the ‘devil's darning-needle’. Butterflies were very numerous, as many Same open channel to the north, and beyond it open sea as far as as fifty being seen during the day... The weather during the day our view extended. What can this mean?" When in the 79th par- was excessively hot, and we suffered extremely. The attached allel, he records on page 197: “...bringing northerly wind. It is thermometer of the aneroid barometer, which was carried always curious that there is almost always a rise of the thermometer with in the shade, stood at 74° (233°C)... The day's march carried us these stronger winds... A south wind of less velocity generally farther along the shores of Lake Hazen than I had reached in lowers the temperature, and a moderate north wind raises it.” May, and now a new, undiscovered country was gradually open- After having reached the very far northerly position of 86° lati- ing to our view.” tude, Nansen observes on page 391: "I was inconvenienced for By far the three most significant categories of evidence proving the first time by the heat; the sun scorched quite unpleasantly." the validity of United States Patent 1096102 are: (1) warmer cli- Page 407: “..last night | could hardly sleep for heat." Scveral mate in polar region; (2) eccentric behaviour of the compass; and months later, Nansen and Johansen were heading back to the (3) the peculiar polar lights known respectively as the aurora bore- Fram, but were still above the 81st parallel, when he writes on _alis and, in Antarctica, the aurora australis. page 527: “Fancy, only 12° (21.5° Fahrenheit) of frost in the mid- Although the brevity of this article prevents all but a cursory dle of December! We might almost imagine ourselves at home..." examination of the voluminous available evidence, there are sev- indeed: you might have thought that as they approached the Pole the ice would become _ thicker, Stronger, more Solid, but in reality it was just the other way around. The closer they came to their goal, the more often they encountered open water..." Writing about Admiral Richard Byrd's first journey to Antarctica in Beyond the Barrier, Eugene Rodgers records the extraor- dinary effect that a wind persisting from the pole has: "Temperature swings were so vio- Composite photo taken 23rd November 1968 by ESSA 7 satellite, pass 1235-1251. NEXUS ¢ 45 DECEMBER 1994 - JANUARY 1995