Abstract
IN none of the treatises on Meteorology or Physical Geography is there to be found any satisfactory explanation of the observed low barometer in the polar regions, or in the centre of a cyclone. Observations show that in the Antarctic region there is a permanent depression of more than one inch below the average height nearer the equator, and in the Arctic region a depression of about half that amount; and also that for several days frequently the barometric pressure of the central part of a cyclone is one or two inches less than that of the exterior part. Mr. Buchan, in his excellent treatise on Meteorology, attributes the low barometer in the polar regions to the effect of the vapour in the atmosphere. If the amount of vapour in the polar regions was greater than in the equatorial, this effect, so far as it would go, would be in the right direction; but just the reverse is the case; for it is well known that the amount of vapour in the warm equatorial region is much in excess of that in the cold polar regions. Attempts have also been made, without success, to account for the depression in cyclones by the effect of centrifugal force.
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FERREL, W. The Cause of Low Barometer in the Polar Regions and in the Central Part of Cyclones . Nature 4, 226–228 (1871). https://doi.org/10.1038/004226b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/004226b0