At the end of WWII, the world had a breathing space, for a short while. New wars would come - Korea and Vietnam, but they were not global in scope.
In addition to time, the world now had knowledge, as records had started being kept.
The Milwauke Journal published this article on Sept 1, 1957. It was written by Frank Carey, Associated Press science reporter, in dispatch from Washington DC.
Man may be helping, though in a minor way, to brew some of the earth's violent storms. The tools he is inadvertently using are bulldozers and steam shovels.
So says Dr. Helmut Landsberg, one of the weather bureau's top scientists.
A slight - and probable temporary - warming up of the weather, Landsberg says, has ben noted in moderate and northern latitudes sinc ehte turn of the century. Conceivably, he adds, this has helped produce increased storminess over many parts of the globe with help from "man made warming effects."
Landsberg lists sources of man made heat as including: The modernization of the planet, with ever increasing construction of heat-absorbing paved roads and brick and concrete buildings; the growth of industry, with more and more heat-belching furnaces, the great increase in the number of motor vehicles, and even the bodily heat from an ever increasing population.
The Glaciers are Retreating
However, Landsberg believes that the main reason for the rise in temperature-between one and two degrees on the average, compared to 50 years ago, and most of it occurring in the last 30 years - is something meteorologic in character, though not yet defined.
One belief, he says, is that it's due to a temporary increase in the sun's radiation "but there is no proof of this theory."
Whatever the total cause of the warming effect, he says, it may have contributed, for example, to a possible increase in the number of tornadoes in recent years in the United States and, to a lesser degree, to a known increase in hurricanes coming out of the tropic doldrums.
As to the possible duration of the warming up, Landsberg considers it probably temporary because there have been "irregular" cycles of warming and cooling in the past.
Aside from the increased storminess theory, he says, it is known that the warming up has brought about a slow retreat of northern glaciers. The thickness of the ice in the north polar sea is only about half what it was when Admiral Peary reached the pole a half century ago. And, in Norway, the snow has receded aobut 200 feet upward in the mountains.
As for the bulldozer and steam shovle concept, Landsberg declares: "This is not an official view of the weather bureau, but I personally have the feeling that we have changed the natural surface of the earth so much - replaced forested areas with lots of heat-absorbing and asphalt and concrete- that it's conceivable this may have quite a sizable effect on the frequency of local storms, such as tornados.
"These man-made changes in the earth's ground cover could bring about a different system of heat exchange between the ground and the atmosphere-that is, when you strip the land, you accentuate heat exchange.
More Tornados are Reported
"And, since tornados are undoubtedly due in parto to a heat phenomenon-with a rising column of hot air apparently being one of the requirements - it's possible that man altered heat exchange has played a part in bringing about an increased frequency of twisters in the United States in recent years.
"There is no question that more tornados have been reported in recent years than formerly - with this year's total (953 through July) already at an all-time high. But we feel that most of this increase is due to better tornado detection and reporting than in earlier years, rather than to an actual increase in the number of such storms."
Hurricanes, says Landsberg, have been more frequent since 1930 than in similar 25 year periods dating back to 1880.
Says Landsberg: "Personally, I have the feeling that the hurricane is a mechanism for dissipating energy, and that if you throw more energy into the atmosphere - for example, from solar radiation or anything else - that would lend to increase the frequency of hurricanes."
But Landsberg, like other weather bureau scientists, says that atomic bomb detonations - and radioactive materials from them - have so far had no influence on meteorological conditions.
The researcher asserts that increased temperature over the last 50 years "has changed the air pattern around the globe, and this conceivably can contribute to storminess."
The 'Planetary Wave Train'
One of the practical results of the warming up, says Landsberg, has been a lowered need for insulation against cold in a number of cities.
Dr. Landsberg says there is no evidence that droughts have become worse in recent years. Although the current ground scorcher extending from southern New England to Virginia is a bad one, it is not without precedent. For example, the eastern part of the country suffered a drought lasting from 1891 to 1893. ANd the state of Maryland once had a terrific one lasting from the late 1860s until 1872.
Jerome Namias, chief of the weather bureau's long range forecast section, says antics of the "planetary wave train" - a river of air that meanders horizontally high above the planet - have been largely responsible for this year's particularly variety and location of unusual weather.
The Start of 'Hurricane Audrey'
In the spring, an unusually deep "trough" dominated the southwest area, bringing flooding rains to the previously drought-ridden region and also contributing to a rash of tornados. Meanwhile, the "ridge" of this trugh dominated the northeast part of the country, trending to produce drought conditions.
In June, the planetary wave "temporarily relaxed" - that is, the deep trough temporarily flattened out and the westerly winds of the wave train suddenly shifted northward. This helped set up the necessary conditions to spawn "Hurricane Audrey" and the northward shift of the westerlies allowed "Audrey" to sneak in on the Gulf coast.
Namias believes that it is conceivable that sun spots - hurricanes on the sun - may play a part in producing vagaries in the planetary wave pattern "but it certainly hasn't been proved."
A Japanese researcher, Professor Hideo Nishioka, of Keio University, Tokyo, in a new booklet called "Long Warm Weather Cycle Ahead," offers evidence to support the concept that there are long periods of warm and cold trends occurring within 700 year cycles and related in some way to fluctuations in sunspot activity.
According to his booklet, we are now in the upgrade of a warm trend.
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