Why is the Antarctic Circle important? Why is the equator called the equator? Why is the earth round instead of any other shape? Why is the Coriolis force at its maximum at the equator? Why is it warmer near the equator? What causes a compass needle to point to geographic north?
A look at a globe is perhaps the best way to appreciate the significance of this peculiar continent. The globe shows that the entire southern hemisphere is preponderantly water-the widest parts of the Atlantic and Pacific,the unbroken sweep of Antarctic seas circling the world. Although much o...
Where is the Antarctic Circle? Why does India support Tibet? What countries are in the Arctic climate? Why is Australia called the land Down Under? What is the importance of the Tasman Sea? Why is Russia not in NATO? Why does Ukraine want Crimea?
runningaround the globesome 2,000 milesfromthe South Pole itself,just missesthe lower tip of South America,and is well belowthe Cape of Good Hopeand New Zealand. There area number of small islandsbetween this line and the Antarctic continent,butthe watershereare known to...
temperatures are changing the Arctic Circle, prompting many to wonder what will become ofthe remaining polar bearsin the Arctic. This has raised the idea of relocating polar bears from the Arctic to Antarctica and sub-Antarctic environments. The question is: should there be polar bears in ...
Thanks to Jaws, they're the ocean's most iconic and feared fish. But we know surprisingly little about them.
It is truly a vicious circle. The official name of it is “positive feedback”. That’s a very simplified version of what’s happening. What we do – our industrial processes, our demand for oil and for energy from fossil fuels – all contribute to problems in the Arctic. And I haven...
The Antarctic Circle is the Southern Hemisphere’s equivalent situation. The Tropic of Cancer is the highest latitude at which the sun is directly overhead at some point throughout the year—in the case of the Tropic of Cancer, that point is the summer solstice around June 21st. The Tropic...
This ice-albedo (really snow-albedo) feedback is particular potent in the Arctic because the Arctic Ocean is almost landlocked by Eurasia and North America, and it's less easy (compared to the Antarctic) for ocean currents to move the sea ice around and out of the region. As a result,...
structures that enable them to absorb infrared radiation. The bonds between atoms in a molecule can vibrate in particular ways, like the pitch of a piano string. When the energy of a photon corresponds to the frequency of the molecule, it is absorbed and its energy transfers to the molecule...