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Latitudes & Longitudes and Earth Movements

What is Latitude & Longitude?

The first person to calculate the size of the Earth was Eratosthenes. He realized that Earth could
be divided into a basic grid of lines called Longitudes and Latitudes, which would help in
pinpointing a location.

Latitude is a geographical coordinate that specifies a location on the Earth's surface. It tells
whether that point is either north or south of the Equator.

Latitude is an angle between 0° at the Equator and 90° at the poles (North or South).

Longitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies a point's east-west position on the surface of
the Earth, or a celestial body's surface.

It is an angular measurement that is usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek letter
lambda. Meridians connect points with the same longitude (lines running from pole to pole).

Latitude:

Latitude is the angular distance of a point measured in degrees from the centre of the Earth.

The Earth is not a perfect sphere; rather, it is slightly flat at the poles. As such, the linear distance
of latitudes at the poles is slightly longer than at the Equator.

For example, it is 68,704 miles at the Equator (0°), 69,054 miles at 45 ° and 69,407 miles at the
poles. The average length is taken as 69 miles (111 km).

Note: 1 mile = 1.607 km

Some Important Parallels of Latitudes:

There are four important parallels of latitudes besides the Equator (0°), the north pole (90° N)
and the south pole (90° S).

• Tropic of Cancer (23½° N) in the northern hemisphere

• Tropic of Capricorn (23½° S) in the southern hemisphere
• The Arctic circle at 66½° north of the Equator
• The Antarctic circle at 66½° south of the equator
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On all latitudes between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, the midday sun is
exactly overhead at least once a year. Consequently, this area receives the maximum heat and is
called the torrid zone.

No latitude beyond the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn experiences the midday
overhead sun.

The angle of the rays of the sun continues to decline towards the poles. As such, the areas
bounded by the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic circle in the northern hemisphere, and the Tropic
of Capricorn and the Antarctic circle in the southern hemisphere, have moderate temperatures.
These are called temperate zones.

Areas in the northern hemisphere between the Arctic circle and the north pole and the Antarctic
circle and the south pole in the southern hemisphere are very cold. It's because the sun does not
rise above the horizon here. These are called frigid zones.

Longitude:

Longitude is an angular distance, measured in degrees, east or west of the Prime Meridian.
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Longitude on the globe can be seen as a series of semi-circles running through the Equator
connecting the two poles.

Thus, it is the Prime Meridian (0°) from which all other meridians move from 180° east to west.

Longitudes have significant utility in determining local time with respect to GMT or Greenwich
Mean Time, sometimes called World Time.

The relation between Longitude & Time:

• As the Earth makes a complete 360 ° revolution in one day or 24 hours, it traverses15° in
one hour or 1° in four minutes.
• Earth rotates from west to east. Thus, as one moves eastwards, he loses time. So, for each
15 degrees travelled east, local time is 1 hour ahead.
• However, as one moves westwards, he gains time. So, for each 15 degrees travelled west,
the local time will be delayed by 1 hour.
• Thus, we may conclude that places east of Greenwich experience sunrise earlier and gain
time, while places west of Greenwich see the sun later and loses time.

Time Zones & Standard Time:

• Earth has been divided into many time zones, in the multiples of 7.5 degrees or 30
minutes, considering the local time of different places.
• Standard time is the local time of a region which is selected by the Government for its
daily activities. All clocks under such jurisdiction are aligned to this standard time.
Hence, each country sets one or more Standard time, based on its geographical expanse.
• In larger countries such as Canada, U.S.A., and USSR, it would be inconvenient to have
a single time zone. So, these countries have multiple time zones.
• France has the most time zones of all countries, totalling 13. This is because of the
numerous overseas territories it has under its jurisdiction.
• There are a total of 11 time zones in USA and Russia.
• China, however, has a single time zone, even though it has a wide longitudinal extension.

International Date Line:

• The International Date Line (IDL) is an imaginary demarcation line on the Earth's surface
running from the North Pole to the South Pole and demarcating the change from one
calendar day to the next.
• A person who goes from east to west around the world would gain or set his clock back
one hour for every 15 degrees of longitude crossed and would gain 24 hours for one
circuit of the globe from east to west if they did not compensate by setting their clock
forward one day when they crossed the IDL.
• On the other hand, west-to-east circumnavigation of the globe loses an hour for every 15
degrees of traversed longitude but gains back a day when it crosses the IDL.
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• The International Date Line passes through the middle of the Pacific Ocean,
approximately following the 180° longitude line but deviating to some territories and
groups of islands.
• The IDL, though largely follows 180 degree latitude, it deviates at point to avoid
confusion by putting same country territories into different calendar dates. Eg. Samoa
islands, Kiribati islands etc.
• The Indian Government has accepted the 82.5° E as the Indian Standard Time, which is
5hrs 30 Mins ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. The 82.5° E passes through Mirzapur
which is almost 84 km from Allahabad.

Daylight Saving Time:

Daylight saving time (DST), proposed by Astronomer George Hudson is the practice of
advancing clocks in summer months so that daylight at evening will last longer while sacrificing
regular sunrise times. DST is generally practised in the high latitude countries like USA, UK, EU
etc.

The regions that use daylight saving time adjust clocks one hour forward at the beginning of the
spring and change them back to the standard time during Autumn season. This exercise leads to
1 hour of sleep loss in the spring season and an hour of extra sleep in the autumn season.

The Major purpose of Daylight Saving Time was to make effective use of daylight and reduce
the dependence on conventional electricity.

EARTH

The Earth, which is also known as the blue planet due to the high content of water, i.e., 71%
covers approximately 510 million square kilometres. The Earth is the densest of all the planets in
the solar system and it is the only planet which supports all forms of life. The shape of the Earth
is oblate spheroid or oblate ellipsoid, i.e. it is almost spherical, flattened at the poles and slightly
bulging at the equator.

Movement of the Earth

Rotation of the Earth

The Earth rotates from West to East on its axis in 23 hours, 56 minutes and 41 seconds. The
rotational velocity of the Earth is maximum at the equators, i.e., 1667 kms/hrs and minimum at
the poles, i.e., zero.
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The rotation of Earth causes day and night in the world and it is also responsible for the rise and
fall of the tides every day. The longest day in the Northern Hemisphere is June 21, and the
longest day in the Southern Hemisphere is December 22, whereas the shortest day in the
Northern Hemisphere is December 22 and the shortest day in the Southern Hemisphere is June
21. The days and nights at the Equator almost remain the same throughout the year.

Revolution of the Earth

The Earth revolves around the Sun in the elliptical orbit at an orbital velocity of 1, 07,218
kms/hrs. The Earth takes 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 45.51 seconds to complete its one
revolution.
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Revolution of the Earth results in the change of the seasons and the variation in the day and
nights at different times of the year. The revolution of the Earth is also responsible for the
shifting of the wind belts.

Inclination of Earth

The axis is an imaginary line that runs from North to South and passes through the centre of the
Earth. It always remains inclined at an angle of 66.5 degrees to the plane of the Earth’s orbit and
is tilted at 23.5 degrees from a line perpendicular to this plane. Since the Earth revolves around
the Sun, the increase and decrease in the amount of the sunlight is caused by the tilt of the
Earth’s axis.

Change in Seasons

The seasons are basically divided into 4 types:

Spring

On March 21, sun rays are directly on the equator. Thus, on March 21, the spring season starts in
the Northern Hemisphere.

Summers

On June 21, sun rays are directly on the Tropic of Cancer. Thus, on June 21, the summer season
starts in the Northern Hemisphere.

Autumn
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On September 23, sun rays again come back on the equator. Thus, on September 23, Autumn
season starts in the Northern Hemisphere.

Winters

On December 22, sun rays are directly on the Tropic of Capricorn. Thus, on December 22, the
winter season starts in the Northern Hemisphere.

Note: The conditions in the Southern Hemisphere are the opposite.

Equinoxes

Equinoxes are those days when the days and nights are equal. It happens twice in a year. On
these two days, sun rays are directly over the equator.

March 21- Vernal Equinox in Northern and Autumnal equinox in the Southern Hemisphere
September 23 – Autumnal equinox in the Northern and Vernal equinox in the Southern
Hemisphere

Solstice

It is the time during a year when the difference between the length of days and nights is the
largest. During these days, sun rays are directly over the tropics.

June 21 – Summer Solstice in Northern and Winter Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere.

December 22 – Winter Solstice in the Northern and the Summer Solstice in the Southern
Hemisphere

Midnight Sun

This is the phenomenon observed at the latitudes 66.5 degrees North and South of the equators,
where the Sun never sinks below the horizon during summers due to the tilt of the Earth’s axis in
each hemisphere. The phenomenon increases towards the equators.

The North Pole experiences day from March 21 to September 23.

The South Pole experiences day from September 23 to March 21.

ECLIPSES

Solar Eclipse

As seen from the Earth, a solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, and the
Moon fully or partially blocks the Sun. This can happen only during the new Moon, when the Sun and the
Moon are in conjunction as seen from Earth.
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Solar Eclipse are of four types:

● Total Eclipse- It occurs when the dark silhouette of the Moon completely obscures the intensely bright
light of the Sun, allowing the much fainter solar corona to be visible. During any one eclipse, totality
occurs at best only in a narrow track on the surface of Earth.

● Annular Eclipse- It occurs when the Sun and Moon are exactly in line. However, the apparent size of
the Moon is smaller than that of the Sun.

● Hybrid Eclipse- It shifts between a total and annular eclipse. At certain points on the surface of Earth, it
appears as a total eclipse, whereas at other points, it appears as annular.

● Partial Eclipse- It occurs when the Sun and Moon are not exactly in line and the Moon only partially
obscures the Sun.

Lunar Eclipse

It occurs when the Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon. The lunar eclipse basically occurs on a
full moon day. However, it does not occur on every full moon day because the Moon is so small, and the
planer of its orbit is tilted about 5 degrees which represent the plane of the Earth’s orbit. Due to this
reason, the eclipse does not occur every month.

The Lunar Eclipse can last up to a maximum of 1 hour and 40 minutes. The Moon does not become
completely dark during most lunar eclipses. However, in many cases, it becomes reddish.