Nordic Seas

"e; ... as soon as one has traversed the greater part of the wild sea, one comes upon such a huge quantity of ice that nowhere in the whole world has the like been known."e; "e;This ice is of a wonderful nature. It lies at times quite still, as one would expect, with openings or large fjords in it; but sometimes its movement is so strong and rapid as to equal that of a ship running before the wind, and it drifts against the wind as often as with it."e; Kongespeilet - 1250 A.D. ("e;The Mirror of Kings"e;) Modern societies require increasing amounts influence on the water mass and on the resulting of scientific information about the environment total environment of the region; therefore, cer- tain of its characteristics will necessarily be in whieh they live and work. For the seas this information must describe the air above the sea, included.