DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20140#0472
448
THERMAL TYPES OF THE YEAR AND THE SEASONS.
45° Fahr. colder in winter, Jakutzk 82° Fahr. Absolute extremes would show differences
greater still.
The thermal equator is in the southern hemisphere, in a latitude of 5°
to 8°.
The second period of the year (March, April, and May), which is generally called
the hot season all over India, also in its north-western parts, shows a remarkable
difference in the type of the curves when compared to the cool season. No region in
higher latitudes can be found varying so greatly in type; the influence of the
topographical forms of the peninsula has become now considerably more apparent.
The thermal equator enters the western border of the map already at an elevation
of 24° of latitude, passes through a central region of maximum temperature exceeding
90°, and descends from thence directly to the south, to the very southern end of
India. Great dryness is combined in this period with the high temperature, and is
an important element for making its difference from the other seasons still more
apparent: hot winds conceal the sky for days, and the glare radiating from the ground
is not less oppressive than the suspensions of dust in the atmosphere; but it
would be erroneous to expect, as it might appear rather probable, that, in consequence
of the dryness, the heat is felt the more by the human organism. Though the central
parts, compared to the shores of the sea, show a rapid increase of temperature with
the progress towards the interior, I must add that, on account of the moisture being-
greater along the shores, not only the heat is there more close and more disagreeable
but also its influence on the health, especially of Europeans, is decidedly still
more unfavourable. For the coasts, and for the interior of tropical India, these
months remain the period of the year which includes the highest means, and also
the greatest heat of single days. The central and eastern regions of the Himalaya, cooling
a little in winter, have now no more any durable influence, not even in the tarai
at its very foot; also the dotted lines connecting so directly the temperature of the
Panjab with those of Assam, in perfect conformity with the lines running down
along the Ganges, corroborate it. Only some parts of Bengal, such as Tirhut, have,
exceptionally, extremes somewhat less excessive, but neither do these appreciably differ
in the mean of the season.
The third period (June, July, and August) is, for the greatest part of India, the
rainy season; its setting-in is connected, most distinctly in Central India, with a
THERMAL TYPES OF THE YEAR AND THE SEASONS.
45° Fahr. colder in winter, Jakutzk 82° Fahr. Absolute extremes would show differences
greater still.
The thermal equator is in the southern hemisphere, in a latitude of 5°
to 8°.
The second period of the year (March, April, and May), which is generally called
the hot season all over India, also in its north-western parts, shows a remarkable
difference in the type of the curves when compared to the cool season. No region in
higher latitudes can be found varying so greatly in type; the influence of the
topographical forms of the peninsula has become now considerably more apparent.
The thermal equator enters the western border of the map already at an elevation
of 24° of latitude, passes through a central region of maximum temperature exceeding
90°, and descends from thence directly to the south, to the very southern end of
India. Great dryness is combined in this period with the high temperature, and is
an important element for making its difference from the other seasons still more
apparent: hot winds conceal the sky for days, and the glare radiating from the ground
is not less oppressive than the suspensions of dust in the atmosphere; but it
would be erroneous to expect, as it might appear rather probable, that, in consequence
of the dryness, the heat is felt the more by the human organism. Though the central
parts, compared to the shores of the sea, show a rapid increase of temperature with
the progress towards the interior, I must add that, on account of the moisture being-
greater along the shores, not only the heat is there more close and more disagreeable
but also its influence on the health, especially of Europeans, is decidedly still
more unfavourable. For the coasts, and for the interior of tropical India, these
months remain the period of the year which includes the highest means, and also
the greatest heat of single days. The central and eastern regions of the Himalaya, cooling
a little in winter, have now no more any durable influence, not even in the tarai
at its very foot; also the dotted lines connecting so directly the temperature of the
Panjab with those of Assam, in perfect conformity with the lines running down
along the Ganges, corroborate it. Only some parts of Bengal, such as Tirhut, have,
exceptionally, extremes somewhat less excessive, but neither do these appreciably differ
in the mean of the season.
The third period (June, July, and August) is, for the greatest part of India, the
rainy season; its setting-in is connected, most distinctly in Central India, with a