The flat fellas crossed the international dateline, and returned to the Western Hemisphere. Instead of changing their clocks one hour forward, or backward, we moved the entire calendar one day backward and get to repeat yesterday.
The International Dateline is typically referred to as being at 180 degrees longitude… but when I asked Gemini AI to help me explain where it is, and if that is exactly where it is, it came back with this helpful answer:
Yes, but with deviations. The International Date Line (IDL) is based on the 180° meridian of longitude, which is exactly opposite the prime meridian in Greenwich, England. However, the IDL deviates from this meridian in several places to accommodate political and economic affiliations.
Here’s a breakdown:
- General Rule: The IDL roughly follows the 180° meridian, running down the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
- Deviations: In many places, the IDL swerves east or west to avoid dividing countries or island groups. This ensures that a country or territory has a consistent date throughout.
- Examples of Deviations:
- It bends eastward through the Bering Strait to keep all of Russia on the same side.
- It bends westward to include the Aleutian Islands with Alaska.
- It deviates eastward around Kiribati and some other island groups in the Pacific.
Visualizing the IDL:
Imagine the 180° meridian as a straight line from the North Pole to the South Pole. Now picture the IDL as a slightly wobbly version of that line, making detours here and there to avoid landmasses.
Another way to think about Longitude (and to remember that LONG word) is to imagine the world as a big ball. Imagine reaching for the North Pole with the tips of your fingers, and the South Pole with the tips of your toes as you curled over it. It takes a LONG line to reach that far. That’s longitude.
Latitude has attitude and wraps around the world in a big hug. Not matter how big around the equator the world gets (yeah, some might call that latitude fat, but only because they rhyme and not to be mean or hurt its feelings!) the latitude can always wrap around and embrace it.
Remember when I asked where we might be going next, and the Tropic of Cancer was marked on the map?
As AI concisely explains: The Tropic of Cancer is a line of latitude that circles the globe at approximately 23.5 degrees north of the equator. It marks the northernmost point on Earth where the sun can be directly overhead at noon. This occurs during the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted towards the sun to its maximum extent.
On a map, the Tropic of Cancer is typically shown as a dashed or dotted line that runs parallel to the equator. It passes through many countries across three continents:
- Africa: Algeria, Niger, Libya, Egypt, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Mali
- Asia: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, Taiwan
- North America: Mexico, Bahamas, United States (Hawaii)
Is concise a new word for you?
Concise:
adjective
giving a lot of information clearly and in a few words; brief but comprehensive.”a concise account of the country’s history”
