Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Change Of Climate In The Middle Colonies Of North-America.
THE CHANGE OF CLIMATE IN THE MIDDLE COLONIES OF NORTH-AMERICA .
ATTEMPTED TO BE ACCOUNTED FOR .
BY HUGH WILLIAMSON , NT . D . OF AMERICA .
[ CONCLUDED FROM PAGE 304 . ] THE surface of these colonies soon grows cold in the absence ofthe sun ! Hence violent torrents of winds pass towards the Atlantic during the winter season ; the colder this air is over the ' continent , the more violent will those north-westers be . Can we discover change of circumstanceswhich mig ht reduce ,
any , the violence of these north-westers , or remove them entirely ? It is very obvious that hard smooth surfaces reflea heat better than those which are rough and unequal ; the surface of a looking-glass , or any polished , metal , will reflea more light and heat than ' the rough surface of a board . Irt the same manner we observe , that rocks and smooth beds of sand reflea more heat than a soft broken surface of clay . A clear
smooth field also refkas more heat than the same space would have done , when it was covered with bushes and trees . ; If the surface of this continent were so clear and smooth , that it would reflea ' so much heat as mig ht warm the incumbent atmosphere , equal to the degree of heat produced by the neig hbouring Atlantic , an equilibrium would be restored , and we should have no stated northwest winds : but we' have already made considerable approaches to this very period ; several members of the society must have observed , . that our north-west wind ' s , during the winter season , are less frequent ,
less violent , and of shorter continuance , than formerly they were . Seamen , who are deeply interested in this subjea , ' inform us , that in ; the winter season they have been beating off our coast three , four , of five weeks , not able ' to put in , *' by reason of the north-w esters ; they are now seldom kept off twice that number of days . It is also agreed , that the hardness of our frosts ; and the quantity and continuance of our snowsare ' unequal now to what they have beensince the
, very , settlement of this province . ' ' ' . " ' It has been objected , that the small alteration which the surface of a country undergoes in being cleared and cultivated , is not equal to producing such considerable change of climate , as has been observed to take place in many parts of ' the world , I shall not say , that a change of climate may notarise from other causes than ' the one I have
described . It is very certain , " that " the simple solution of water in air will produce cold , ' which may be increased by a solution ' of nitrous salt . There are sundry other causes , ' from which the heat ofthe air fnay be increased or diminished , yet I cannot recollect a single instance of any remarkable change of climate ,, ' which may not be fairly deduced from the sole cultivation of the country . The change which has happened in Italy , and some countries- to the eastward , within the last seventeen centuries , is thought to be a strong objec
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Change Of Climate In The Middle Colonies Of North-America.
THE CHANGE OF CLIMATE IN THE MIDDLE COLONIES OF NORTH-AMERICA .
ATTEMPTED TO BE ACCOUNTED FOR .
BY HUGH WILLIAMSON , NT . D . OF AMERICA .
[ CONCLUDED FROM PAGE 304 . ] THE surface of these colonies soon grows cold in the absence ofthe sun ! Hence violent torrents of winds pass towards the Atlantic during the winter season ; the colder this air is over the ' continent , the more violent will those north-westers be . Can we discover change of circumstanceswhich mig ht reduce ,
any , the violence of these north-westers , or remove them entirely ? It is very obvious that hard smooth surfaces reflea heat better than those which are rough and unequal ; the surface of a looking-glass , or any polished , metal , will reflea more light and heat than ' the rough surface of a board . Irt the same manner we observe , that rocks and smooth beds of sand reflea more heat than a soft broken surface of clay . A clear
smooth field also refkas more heat than the same space would have done , when it was covered with bushes and trees . ; If the surface of this continent were so clear and smooth , that it would reflea ' so much heat as mig ht warm the incumbent atmosphere , equal to the degree of heat produced by the neig hbouring Atlantic , an equilibrium would be restored , and we should have no stated northwest winds : but we' have already made considerable approaches to this very period ; several members of the society must have observed , . that our north-west wind ' s , during the winter season , are less frequent ,
less violent , and of shorter continuance , than formerly they were . Seamen , who are deeply interested in this subjea , ' inform us , that in ; the winter season they have been beating off our coast three , four , of five weeks , not able ' to put in , *' by reason of the north-w esters ; they are now seldom kept off twice that number of days . It is also agreed , that the hardness of our frosts ; and the quantity and continuance of our snowsare ' unequal now to what they have beensince the
, very , settlement of this province . ' ' ' . " ' It has been objected , that the small alteration which the surface of a country undergoes in being cleared and cultivated , is not equal to producing such considerable change of climate , as has been observed to take place in many parts of ' the world , I shall not say , that a change of climate may notarise from other causes than ' the one I have
described . It is very certain , " that " the simple solution of water in air will produce cold , ' which may be increased by a solution ' of nitrous salt . There are sundry other causes , ' from which the heat ofthe air fnay be increased or diminished , yet I cannot recollect a single instance of any remarkable change of climate ,, ' which may not be fairly deduced from the sole cultivation of the country . The change which has happened in Italy , and some countries- to the eastward , within the last seventeen centuries , is thought to be a strong objec