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0448 The Pulse of Asia : vol.1
The Pulse of Asia : vol.1 / Page 448 (Color Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000233
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with high pressure and fewer storms. The changes are most
extreme in mid-continental regions, decreasing toward the
sea-coast, and actually being reversed in some maritime
districts, such as eastern New England. The extremes of
low temperature follow, and are apparently due to periods
of maximum solar activity, as shown by the number of sun-
spots and the rapidity with which they are formed. The
times of largest rainfall depend on those of lowest tempera-
ture, which they follow at an interval of a few years. The
other extreme is characterized by diminished solar activity
followed by higher temperature and, a little later, by scarcity
of rainfall. The cycles have been traced back by Clough
to about 300 A. D., but the only data of any great degree
of accuracy are those of the last century or more. During
that time, the extremes, whether of heat or cold, have not
shown any tendency to increase in intensity.

The Brückner cycles, as they are called, appear to differ
from those of the Glacial Period in degree and regularity
only. The effects upon glaciers, rivers, and lakes are of
precisely the same nature; and the distribution of the two
appears to be identical so far as the continents are concerned.
Both are world-wide phenomena. The changes of climate
of which we have found evidence in Central Asia partake
of the nature of both the Brückner and the Glacial cycles,
and lie between them in intensity. It seems reasonable to
suppose that the three types of climatic change are of the
same nature, are of the same solar origin, and are of equally
wide distribution. Apparently, the climate of the earth is
subject to pulsations of very diverse degrees of intensity and
of varying length. The Glacial Period as a whole represents