Arctic Ice August 2011

In the days of sailing ships and the early days of steam, even into the early years of the 20th century, much of the Arctic remained inaccessible due to the extensive pack ice.

When explorers attempted to penetrate the ice, it is often found from their journals that they did so in late August.  There are many references to be found of an 'open season' during which it was possible to maneuver a ship through an open lead during a period which was often only of two weeks duration, or less.  In some years, the ice simply did not open as expected, and the explorers would either go home or overwinter nearby, to try again the next year.

The Posthumous Memoir of Ignaz Venetz


This memoir was published by the Swiss Natural Sciences Society, shortly after the death of Ignaz Venetz, to honor his great contribution to science.

For background information, please see part 1 of this article -
The Posthumous Memoir Of Ignaz Venetz
 and 
Ignaz Venetz - Climate Change Pioneer.

As with the 1821 paper, my plain ASCII transcription retains the original pagination, using rows of dots as page breaks.

The transcription of the memoir begins below this page break >>

The Posthumous Memoir of Ignaz Venetz

My  three part article on Venetz's prize-winning 1821 paper began with some facts tending to prove that he was the first person to discuss climate change scientifically.  Since beginning my researches concerning Venetz, I have discovered many more facts.


The discovery of climate change.

Is This A Fishing Expedition ?

In legal circles, a 'fishing expedition' is an illegal attempt to discover unspecified information which may, perhaps, be prejudicial to one party in a legal case.  It is illegal because just about everybody has things in their possession which might be evidence of breach of some law or other - however trivial, archaic or obscure.

Currently in the news¹ is the fact that wildlife biologist Charles Monnett is under investigation by the office of the inspector general at the US department of the interior.  News stories have reported that the investigation concerns a study² of polar bear deaths.

The Sacramento Bee now reports as follows:

Ignaz Venetz - Climate Change Pioneer - #3


There is no such thing as a perfect translation.

En effet, on peut être utile sans atteindre à la perfection;

Agenda, ou tableau général des Observations et des Recherches dont les résultats doivent servir de base à la théorie de la Terre, H. B. de Saussure, 1796.

This article contains my translation of Ignatz Venetz's 1821 prize-winning Essay on the variations of temperature in the Swiss Alps - Memoire sur les variations de la température dans les Alpes de la Suisse.