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Sir George C. Simpson K.C.B., F.R.S. is President of the Royal Meteorological Society

ABSTRACT

(a) The effect of the distribution of land and water is examined, and it is found that the mean temperature and mean rainfall of zones is unaffected by the distribution of land and water; but that large difference in the climate of localities may be brought about by redistribution of land and water, chiefly in the extremes of temperature and in the rainfall. The changes of climate during the Pleistocene Period could not have been caused by changes in land and water.

(b) The effect of changes in the elements of the earth’s orbit is shown to be so small that the mean annual temperatures cannot anywhere be affected by more than one- or two-tenths of a degree Centigrade, while the temperature of the warmest month and coldest month can only be affected by as much as 2o C. in extreme cases in high latitude.

© An increase in solar radiation produces an increase in temperature, in cloud amount and in precipitation, and a decrease produces the reverse effects. The large changes in climate during the Pleistocene Period are probably due to changes in solar radiation; but it is not yet clear whether the glacial epochs were caused by an increase or decrease of solar radiation.