scholarly journals XIII. Observations on the Mean Temperature of the Globe

1823 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 201-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Brewster
Keyword(s):  
Direct Action ◽  
Temperate Zone ◽  
Full Measure ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Arctic Circle ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Mean Temperature ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Solar Rays

If no provision has been made by the Great Author of Nature, for equalising the light and heat projected upon the different bodies of our system, we may consider the earth as receiving, from the direct action of the solar rays, a degree of heat, intermediate between the condensed radiations sustained by Mercury and Venus, and the attenuated warmth which reaches the remoter planets. The heat which our Globe thus acquires from its locality in the system, is again tempered by the obliquity of its axis, and is distributed over the same parallels of latitude by its daily rotation. When the Sun is in the Equator, his rays, beating on the Earth with a vertical influence, impart to it the full measure of their action; and as his meridian altitude decreases, their intensity suffers a corresponding diminution. The burning heat at the Equator becomes moderated in higher latitudes. In passing through the temperate zone, it declines with great rapidity, and between the Arctic Circle and the Pole, the rays of the Sun are unable even to temper the piercing cold which reigns in these inhospitable regions.

On an inequality of long period in the motions of the Earth and Venus

1837 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 77-78
Keyword(s):  
Principal Term ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Method Of Calculation ◽  
The Third ◽  
Long Period ◽  
Mean Motion ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Difference

The author had pointed out, in a paper published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1828, on the corrections of the elements of Delambre’s Solar Tables, that the comparison of the corrections of the epochs of the sun and the sun’s perigee, given by the late observations, with the corrections given by the observations of the last century, appears to indicate the existence of some inequality not included in the arguments of those tables. As it was necessary, therefore, to seek for some inequality of long period, he commenced an examination of the mean motions of the planets, with the view of discovering one whose ratio to the mean motion of the earth could be expressed very nearly by a proportion of which the terms are small. The appearances of Venus are found to recur in very nearly the same order every eight years; some multiple, therefore, of the periodic time of Venus is nearly equal to eight years. It is easily seen that this multiple must be thirteen; and consequently eight times the mean motion of Venus is nearly equal to thirteen times the mean motion of the earth. The difference is about one 240th of the mean annual motion of the earth; and it implies the existence of an inequality of which the period is about 240 years. No term has yet been calculated whose period is so long with respect to the periodic time of the planets disturbed. The value of the principal term, calculated from the theory, was given by the author in a postscript to the paper above referred to. In the present memoir he gives an account of the method of calculation, and includes also other terms which are necessarily connected with the principal inequality. The first part treats of the perturbation of the earth’s longitude and radius victor; the second of the perturbation of the earth in latitude; and the third of the perturbations of Venus depending upon the same arguments.

scholarly journals On the Causes of Palaeoclimatic Variations and of the Ice Ages in Particular

1953 ◽  
Vol 2 (13) ◽  
pp. 213-218
Author(s):  
E. J. Öpik
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Reactions ◽  
Gas Diffusion ◽  
Seasonal Temperature ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Orbital Elements ◽  
Ice Ages ◽  
Solar Mass ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Change In The Mean ◽  
The Mean

AbstractA method of quantitative climatological analysis is developed by applying the principle of geometric similarity to the convective heat transport, which is assumed to vary with the 1.5 power of temperature difference. The method makes possible the calculation of the change in the mean annual, or seasonal temperature, produced by a variation in insolation, cloudiness, snow cover, etc.It is shown that the variations in the orbital elements of the earth cannot account for the phenomena of the ice ages; the chronology of the Quaternary, based on these variations, has no real foundation.Palaeoclimatic variations are most probably due to variations of solar luminosity. These can be traced to periodical re-adjustments in the interior of the sun, produced by an interplay between nuclear reactions and gas diffusion, repeating themselves after some 250 million years. Complications from the outer envelope of the sun lead to additional fluctuations of a shorter period, of the order of 100,000 years to be identified with the periodical advance and retreat of the glaciers during the Quaternary.Calculations of the variations of luminosity in a star of solar mass substantiate this hypothesis.

scholarly journals XXI. On magnetic influence in the solar rays

1828 ◽  
Vol 118 ◽  
pp. 379-396 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
The Sun ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Circular Arcs ◽  
Solar Rays

The facts which I communicated in my former paper on this subject appeared so inexplicable on any known principle, that I am induced to present my subsequent observations to the Society, although I have not succeeded in ascertaining the causes of the singular effects which I have observed. From the experiments described in that paper, it appeared that a magnetized needle, when vibrated exposed to the sun’s rays, will come to rest sooner than when screened from their influence: that a similar effect is produced on a needle of glass or of copper; but that the effect upon the magnetized needle greatly exceeds that upon either of the others. To the experiments from which this was inferred, it might be objected, that the magnetized needle and the other metallic needle were not of the same weight, and that the effect upon an unmagnetized steel needle had not been compared with that upon a similar needle magnetized. I therefore, on the first opportunity, made these experiments in the most unexceptionable manner, and the results most decidedly confirmed those I had previously obtained. I endeavoured likewise to ascertain the effects that would be produced by the separate rays; but, possibly owing to the inefficiency of my apparatus, I obtained no very decided results: the violet rays appeared to produce the same effect as partially screening the needle; and the red rays, the greatest effect in diminishing the arc of vibration. The observations themselves will however best point out the nature of these effects. My first object was to compare the effects on an unmagnetized steel needle with those on a magnetized needle, under circumstances as nearly as possible the same. For this purpose I made another needle of the same form and weight, and from the same piece of clock-spring, as the magnetized needle which I had already employed. Each needle had pasteboard glued to the under side, to render it of precisely the same weight as two other needles of copper and of glass, which I had cut of the same form for the purpose of comparing the effects upon needles of different kinds. The length of each needle is 6 inches, and the greatest breadth 1.5 inch, the boundaries being circular arcs. The needles were vibrated by means of an apparatus, described in my former paper, from which metal was scrupulously excluded; the suspending wire being the only metal within several feet of the needle. This wire was of brass, and of such diameter, that the unmagnetized needles vibrated by the force of its torsion in very nearly the same time as the magnetized needle by the directive force of the earth. The observations are contained in the following table, where the terminal arc is, in all cases, the extent to which the needle vibrated beyond zero after completing the 100th vibration; and the terminal excess is the excess of the terminal arc when the needle vibrated in the shade above that when it vibrated exposed to the sun.

scholarly journals I. An account of the Sun's distance from the Earth, deduced from Mr. Short's observations relating to the horizontal parallax of the Sun: In a letter from Peter Daval, Esq; V. P. of R. S. to James Barrow, Esq; V. P. of R. S

1763 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 1-2
Keyword(s):  
The Sun ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Mean

According to Mr. Short, the mean horizontal parallax of the Sun is 8", 65. Now this parallax is the angle, which the semidiameter of the earth subtends, being seen from the Sun.

V. Some observations on the heat of wells and springs in the island of Jamaica, and on the temperature of the Earth below the surface in different climates

1788 ◽  
Vol 78 ◽  
pp. 53-65
Keyword(s):  
The Earth ◽  
Mean Temperature ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Different Climates

The Following observation on the heat of springs and wells, and their application towards determining the mean temperature of the earth in the different climates, were suggested by you in some observation on the subject, previous to my going to Jamaica in 1780.

III—The Voyage of Sputnik

1958 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-179
Author(s):  
J. G. Porter
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Satellite ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Circle ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Antarctic

The Russian Sputnik travels rather faster than the Mayflower or even a transatlantic racing yacht, and the launching of this artificial satellite is truly a wonderful achievement. I want to tell you why I think so, and what it means for the future.The satellite, which was launched on 3 October, has already made 300 revolutions about the Earth. Its speed is about 17,000 miles/hour, which is about 280 miles a minute, and it makes one revolution about the Earth in 96 minutes—that is, 15 revolutions a day. Its track is inclined to the equator at an angle of about 65 degrees, so that at one time it goes up to the Arctic Circle, and at the other end of its path down to the Antarctic.

scholarly journals On a method of comparing the light of the Sun with that of the fixed stars

1833 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 355-355
Keyword(s):  
Full Moon ◽  
Angular Distance ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Proper Distance ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Direct Light ◽  
Glass Bulb ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Made In

In the Philosophical Transactions for the year 1767, a suggestion is thrown out by Mr. Michell, that a comparison between the light received from the sun and any of the fixed stars, might furnish data for estimating their relative distances; but no such direct comparison had been attempted. Dr. Wollaston was led to infer from some observations that he made in the year 1799, that the direct light of the sun is about one million times more intense than that of the full moon, and therefore very many million times greater than that of all the fixed stars taken collectively. In order to compare the light of the sun with that of a star, he took, as an intermediate object of comparison, the light of a candle reflected from a small bulb, about a quarter of an inch in diameter, filled with quicksilver, and seen, by one eye, through a lens of two inches focus, at the same time that the star or the sun’s image, placed at a proper distance, was viewed by the other eye through a telescope. The mean of various trials seemed to show that the light of Sirius is equal to that of the sun seen in a glass bulb one tenth of an inch in diameter, at the distance of 210 feet, or that they are in the proportion of one to ten thousand millions; but as nearly one half of the light is lost by reflection, the real proportion between the light from Sirius and the sun is not greater than that of one to twenty thousand millions. If the annual parallax of Sirius be half a second, corresponding to a distance of 525,481 times that of the sun from the earth, its diameter would be 3⋅7 times that of the sun, and its light 13⋅8 times as great. The distance at which the sun would require to be viewed, so that its brightness might be only equal to that of Sirius, would be 141,421 times its present distance; and if still in the ecliptic, its annual parallax in longitude would be nearly 3″; but if situated at the same angular distance from the ecliptic as Sirius is, it would have an annual parallax, in latitude, of 1″⋅8.

scholarly journals On the Causes of Palaeoclimatic Variations and of the Ice Ages in Particular

1953 ◽  
Vol 2 (13) ◽  
pp. 213-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. J. Öpik
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Reactions ◽  
Gas Diffusion ◽  
Seasonal Temperature ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Orbital Elements ◽  
Ice Ages ◽  
Solar Mass ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Change In The Mean ◽  
The Mean

Abstract A method of quantitative climatological analysis is developed by applying the principle of geometric similarity to the convective heat transport, which is assumed to vary with the 1.5 power of temperature difference. The method makes possible the calculation of the change in the mean annual, or seasonal temperature, produced by a variation in insolation, cloudiness, snow cover, etc. It is shown that the variations in the orbital elements of the earth cannot account for the phenomena of the ice ages; the chronology of the Quaternary, based on these variations, has no real foundation. Palaeoclimatic variations are most probably due to variations of solar luminosity. These can be traced to periodical re-adjustments in the interior of the sun, produced by an interplay between nuclear reactions and gas diffusion, repeating themselves after some 250 million years. Complications from the outer envelope of the sun lead to additional fluctuations of a shorter period, of the order of 100,000 years to be identified with the periodical advance and retreat of the glaciers during the Quaternary. Calculations of the variations of luminosity in a star of solar mass substantiate this hypothesis.

Remarks on the meteorological observations made at Alten, Finmarken, by Mr. S. H. Thomas in the years 1837, 1838, and 1839

1843 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 229-231
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Formula ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Freezing Point ◽  
Maximum Height ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Remarkable Feature ◽  
Diurnal Oscillation ◽  
Mean Temperature ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Meteorological Observations

These observations, made at Alten in lat. 69° 58' 3" N., and 23° 43' 10" east of Paris, would seem to have a claim to the attention of the Royal Society, as they offer the experimentum crucis of Professor Forbes’s empirical formula respecting the gradual diminution of the daily oscillations of the barometer, within certain limit hours, from the equator to the poles. Professor Forbes has laid down an assumed curve, in which the diurnal oscillation amounts to ·1190 at the equator and 0 in lat. 64° 8' N., and beyond that latitude the tide should occur with a contrary sign , plus becoming minus. Now Alten being nearly in lat. 70°, if Professor Forbes’s law hold good, the maxima of the diurnal oscillations should occur at the hour for the minima at the equator, and a similar inversion should take place with respect to the minima. Mr. Thomas has himself however modified the value his observations would otherwise have had, by adopting 2 p. m., instead of 3 p. m., for the hour of his observations for the fall; and he has adapted his barometrical observations to a mean temperature of 50° Fahr., instead of 32°. The first year’s observations commence on the 1st October, 1837, and terminate on the 30th September, 1838. The barometer stood 66 feet 5 inches above low-water mark, and the thermometer hung at 6 feet above the ground; but care was not always taken to prevent the sun shining on it. The mean height of the barometer for the year was 29°·771, and the mean of the thermometer almost coincident with the freezing point, viz., 32°·017.The maximum height of the barometer was 30°·89 in January, and the minimum 28°·71 in October. The mean of the barometer at 9 a .m. was 29°·764, therm. 33°·455; at 2 p. m. 29°·765, therm. 33°·327; and at 9 p. m. 29°·784, therm. 29°·270. The diurnal observations would seem to support Professor Forbes’s theory; but the 9 p. m. observations are entirely opposed to it, as they appear with the same maximum sign as at the equator, whereas the sign ought to have been the reverse; indeed, with respect to the diurnal observations, the mean of five months of the year at 9 a. m. gives a plus sign, although the mean of the year at 2 p. m. only gives the trifling quantity of ·001 plus. There is one remarkable feature in these observations that cannot fail to strike the meteorologist. M. Arago, from nine years observations at Paris, reduced to the level of the sea, makes the annual mean height 29°·9546; twenty-one years’ observations at Madras make it 29°·958; and three years’ observations at Calcutta, by Mr. James Prinsep, make it 29°·764; and Mr. Thomas brings out 29°·771. That there should be this coincidence between the observations at Calcutta and Alten is curious. Neither Mr. Thomas nor Mr. Prinsep state whether or not their means are reduced to the level of the sea. It is to be suspected they are not.

Sleep-Quality among Girls with Different Involvement in Competitive Sports during Fall in the Arctic Circle

1991 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 883-892 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andi Weydahl
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Sleep Quality ◽  
Significant Influence ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Competitive Sports ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Arctic Circle ◽  
High School Girls ◽  
School Girls ◽  
Good Sleep

Eight high-school girls participating in competitive sports and six non-participating girls living north of the polar circle recorded their sleep once a week during the Fall, including the period when the sun does not rise above the horizon. Sleep-quality scores were computed as the sum of answers identical to a preset “right” answer indicating good sleep-quality. Significant differences on sleep-quality between the two groups were found, but a significant influence of amount of daylight or exercise could not be confirmed. When sleep-quality was ranked during three periods through the Fall, the girls participating in competitive sports showed a trend of increasing sleep-quality and the nonparticipants a decreasing one. An explanation based on influence of exercise thresholds upon sleep-quality is presented.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document