GEOGRAPHY 1102

The Physical Environment

CLASS NOTES

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Jerry Kramer
Geography 1102
Chapter 1 (Some Essentials of Geography)

Location and Time on the Earth.

Location on the Earth: Latitude and Longitude.
Latitude.
• Lines of Latitude measure angle distances from the Equator north and south. • 0 degrees Latitude is the equator, and 90 degrees is the North and South poles. • Lines of latitude are also called Parallels, because they never meet or cross each other. • Minneapolis lies almost exactly half-way between the Equator and the North Pole (45 degrees north latitude).

Longitude • Lines of longitude measure angle distance east or west of the Prime Meridian. This is a line running north and south from Greenwich, England’s Naval Observatory. This line is known as 0 degrees longitude. • Lines of longitude are also known as Meridians. They are furthest apart at the equator and meet at the north and south poles. • Opposite the world from the Prime Meridian is the International Date Line. This line usually represents 180 degrees longitude (both east and west). • Many Countries fought to have the Prime Meridian run through their own capital cities. o French maps showed the prime meridian running through Paris. Americans ran it through Washington D.C. and the Italians through Rome. o Great Britain won the honor because it was the greatest sea power at the time. o Eventually the other countries were forced to recognize this decision, although Italy still kept Rome as the Prime Meridian until after World War II.

Time Zones • Because the Earth revolves 360 degrees every 24 hours, each hour time zone is roughly 15 degrees of longitude (360/24=15). • Each country within a certain time zone chooses where it wants to place the edges of the zones. Some even choose to have parts of their countries run on the ½ hour. • China decided to make the entire country one time zone, although it should really be in 5 time zones. This creates problems in that one part of the country might have to wake up and go to work long before the sun itself rises.

The International Date Line • This line roughly follows the 180 degree line of longitude. • It marks the place where one day ends and the next day begins. • At the international date line, the west side of the line is ALWAYS one day ahead of the east side. • Variations in the line work to keep individual countries all in the same day. • The largest jog in the line eastwards surrounds the new island nation of Kiribati, whose leaders wanted their nation to be the first to great each new day and year.
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|Longitude | |
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|Latitude | |
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