New Wings for Climatology: A Science Reborn

New Wings for Climatology: A Science Reborn F. Kenneth Hare* Climatology is an integral part of physical geography, perhaps closer to the center than any other. It is also a major aspect of the science of meteorology, from which it must draw its fundamental principles. I shallnotwaste time with alengthy argument aboutwhat climatology means, because climate is a word that is most useful if it is not narrowly defined. It implies two things to the layman: the habitual range of weather to which he is accustomed, and the environment to which he is exposed—as in the climate of opinion. Similar connotations exist for the scientist. Meteorology, the very general science that treats the physics of all planetary atmospheres, has a necessary concern for the characteristic behavior of our own atmosphere, on our own highly particular Earth. And geography, concerned withthat same Earth as the habitat of human societies, has a concern for climate as the dominant element in the natural environment. These two sciences therefore should have practitioners who are in daily contact. In universities, geographers are very much more numerous than meteorologists, and hence have a special responsibility to see that the contact is cordial and effective. Accordingly, I shall take the view that the word climatology is best defined, for the time being, by common professional usage. The term is correctly applied to the study or practice of five active and growing fields: 1. The climate-logical record, the taking of standardized observations over approved networks, the reduction, storage, and statisti- * This article is based on the inaugural address for the Chair in Geography at University of London Kings College on 20 October 1964. In 1969, after brief spells as Master of Birkbeck College, University of London, and as President of the University of British Columbia, Dr. Hare returned to full-time scientific work as a professor in the University of Toronto. 145 146ASSOCIATION OF PACIFIC COAST GEOGRAPHERS cal analysis of the data obtained, and their deployment in practical applications. 2.The theory of climate, the attempt to arrive at a general theoretical understanding of the major climatic distributions. 3.The energy andmoisture balances ofthe earth, as exemplified in the work of such men as Thornthwaite, Budyko, Penman, and Sverdrup at the surface, and Simpson, Houghton, London, Goody, and Murgatroyd in the free atmosphere. 4.The study of climate as the environment of living organisms, or bioclimatology, a field which has largely been left to the biologists and agricultural scientists. 5.The study of climate as the direct environment of man, comprising a wide variety of topics. Of these, physiological climatology has involved much work by physiologists and some by geographers and meteorologists. The study of local climates, like that of Chandler in London, is comprehended here. I shall say little about the last two fields, and I shall treat the climatological record only briefly. My main concern will be with the theory of climate, and especially with the energy and moisture balances . The Climatological Record The climatological record is still what most working climatologists and geographers mean by climatology. The maintenance of the official memory used to be regarded as a troublesome job that could be accorded little status. When I first became aprofessional meteorologist , more than two decades ago, a climatologist was a lowly figure, very much in need of rebirth. Observations were taken in accordance with the needs of the forecaster, not the climatologist. They were tabulated at headquarters by ill-paid clerks working in some squalid basement or attic, and then forgotten. The few professionals who controlled these activities were dedicated men and women, but they were given little help from on high. This state of affairs is happily past in all the advanced countries, not simply through a change of heart, but because climatological information has been found to be useful. "All the best meteorologists VOLUME 30 / YEARBOOK / 1968147 are now becoming climatologists," Sutcliffe1 has remarked. The demands of civil and military aviation, of missile and space programs, of water supply authorities, of agriculturalists and public health specialists , have multiplied exceedingly. Hence we have had to make climatological records more accessible, negotiable, and intelligible. In practice, this availability has been brought about...