Rejecting any connotation of climatology as merely the description of average atmospheric conditions, each of the authors, but particularly Wowinckel and Orvig, writing about the North Polar Basin, adopt as their overall intention, the testing of theories of physical meteorology and of the general circulation, by studies in real space and time. As a result, the sections go beyond the mere description of spatial and temporal distributions and frequencies of the meteorological dements though these are still voluminous. More consideration is, however, given to considerations of the responsible physical processes, many of which find their expression in the energy balance. Because of this emphasis, several less commonly recorded meteorological parameters such as albedo, radiation, evaporation and sensible heat fluxes become important and are given a good deal of attention.
Although the number of climatological stations in high latitude areas has increased considerably since the Second World War, very few have long, uninterrupted records. One further complication to analysis is that the climatic fluctuations of the present century have been more marked in far northern areas than almost anywhere else in the world. Long period averages are therefore difficult to obtain and of doubtful value. These limitations of data are, however, [ess serious a problem for the testing of theories of physical and dynamic meteorology than for the compilation of climatic means. There is, however, one further and more serious characteristic of climatological records in polar regions and that is the sparseness of synchronous observations over a large area. Records, often for comparatively short periods, frequently refer to different periods of time.
But in spite of these very considerable difficulties of data, the authors have produced an informative and interesting analysis of weather and climate in Greenland, in the North Polar Basin and in the Antarctic. These form the three, almost equal-length divisions of the book. In each section, the main elements and energy exchange processes are analysed and details are given of climatic trends. There are also very useful bibliographies and climatic tables for each of the sections.
The standard of production for this as for other volumes in the series is very high. The format is generous and the printing superb so that the many tables, maps and diagrams are beautifully clear. Such standards are inevitably reflected in the price of the book.