This is true? - Geographic oddities that defy conventional wisdom

[SP Cook]

of which low latitudes should not use DST.

No latitude should use DST.

[Poiponen13]

of which low latitudes should not use DST.

No latitude should use DST.

I have used to DST when looking sunrise and sunset times. In Helsinki sunrise and sunset at 3:54/22:50 looks more normal than its DST-less equivalent 2:54/21:50. But DST is not good for Miami's latitude (25 degrees north).

[kphoger]

Stop it.

[GaryV]

... latest sunrise actually happens on day before DST ends ...

That's the point of DST. To move sunrise and sunset later on the clock.

I'm not going to get into the banned topic of whether that's a good idea or not.

[bing101]

Dang I didn't think LA would be on top of the list for most dense city in the US. But I was going to guess New York and Chicago to be in the top 3 for urban density before San Francisco and San Jose the way the video was going.

[Rothman]

Dang I didn't think LA would be on top of the list for most dense city in the US. But I was going to guess New York and Chicago to be in the top 3 for urban density before San Francisco and San Jose the way the video was going.

Might as well have said, "I screwed with the stats until they came up with a YouTube-able result."

[Poiponen13]

In Fairbanks in every summer, are street lamps off 24/7 every day due to long (22 hours) daylight?

[GaryV]

In Fairbanks in every summer, are street lamps off 24/7 every day due to long (22 hours) daylight?

Fairbanks is only 4 degrees further north than Helsinki. Are street lights in Finland turned off 24/7 in the summer?

[Poiponen13]

In Fairbanks in every summer, are street lamps off 24/7 every day due to long (22 hours) daylight?

Fairbanks is only 4 degrees further north than Helsinki. Are street lights in Finland turned off 24/7 in the summer?

Not in Helsinki, but in Kuopio (slightly under 2 degrees further north than Helsinki) and Oulu (about 10 degree minutes further north than Fairbanks), which neither have midnight sun and see at least some twilight every night. Of course, in cities that see midnight sun (such as Inuvik in North America and Tromso and Rovaniemi in Europe), lamps are off 24/7. In contrast, are street lamps on 24/7 in cities that see polar night near winter solstice? Does that happen in Inuvik?

[kphoger]

Of course, in cities that see midnight sun (such as Inuvik in North America ...), lamps are off 24/7.

Does that happen in Inuvik?

You just said it does.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

If you think Google Maps has an error off the coast of Nova Scotia (it looks like they forgot a gap in the ocean), remember this island exists.

[JayhawkCO]

I'm sure some have seen this before, but you could sail in a straight line from Cold Bay, AK to Somnath, Gujarat, India and never hit land.

[kkt]

I'm sure some have seen this before, but you could sail in a straight line from Cold Bay, AK to Somnath, Gujarat, India and never hit land.

Okay... I'll bite... in what sense is that a straight line?

[hotdogPi]

It's definitely straight, although it's the long way around. Keep in mind that the Earth is a sphere.

Google distance measure tool will give you an idea of what "straight" actually means on these types of maps. You'll have to set one intermediate point because it's the long way around, though.

[Evan_Th]

I'm sure some have seen this before, but you could sail in a straight line from Cold Bay, AK to Somnath, Gujarat, India and never hit land.

Okay... I'll bite... in what sense is that a straight line?

It's a great circle - the closest thing to a straight line - on a globe.

[LilianaUwU]

I'm sure some have seen this before, but you could sail in a straight line from Cold Bay, AK to Somnath, Gujarat, India and never hit land.

Now, why would I do that?

[JayhawkCO]

Okay... I'll bite... in what sense is that a straight line?

[JayhawkCO]

I'm sure some have seen this before, but you could sail in a straight line from Cold Bay, AK to Somnath, Gujarat, India and never hit land.

Now, why would I do that?

Because you can.

Looks like the longest straight line over water on Earth is actually from Pakistan to the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia.

[tmoore952]

It's the same reason why, when you fly from DC to London, that you fly NNE at first, going right near NYC (on one of my trips I went right over Manhattan), up over Maine, and then Newfoundland before crossing the ocean. It's why the people flying from Europe to U.S. on 9/11 were grounded in Gander, Newfoundland.

If you were to look at a flat map and draw a straight line between DC and London, you'd go right near Cape May NJ, and start crossing the ocean there. But that is not the shortest route.

[kphoger]

It's the same reason why, when you fly from DC to London ...

It's why, when I flew from Chicago to Warsaw, I could look out the airplane window at the Greenland ice sheet.

[JayhawkCO]

It's the same reason why, when you fly from DC to London ...

It's why, when I flew from Chicago to Warsaw, I could look out the airplane window at the Greenland ice sheet.

Interestingly enough, with all the flying I've done, the northernmost I've ever been in the air is still basically equal to the northernmost I've been on land -- in Svalbard. None of the great circle routes for any of my trans-Pacific or trans-Atlantic flights have gotten closer than that to the North Pole.

[tmoore952]

It's the same reason why, when you fly from DC to London ...

It's why, when I flew from Chicago to Warsaw, I could look out the airplane window at the Greenland ice sheet.

I took a picture of that ice sheet when I flew from DC to Iceland in 2006. My favorite picture (of the handful) that I have taken from a plane.

[kkt]

That doesn't look like the shortest route.  Cold Bay and Somnath are both in the northern hemisphere, so the great circle route between them will head toward the north, not swing way south over the South Atlantic.  The shortest route starting from Cold Bay is across the North Pacific, Siberia, Tibet, to India.

http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=cdb-IXK

Either way great circle routes are not straight - they follow the surface of sphere, and they require continuous adjustment of your heading.

(or just take a look at your globe)

[hotdogPi]

It's a great circle line going the long way, i.e. 180° opposite the shortest route.

[kkt]

So it is NOT really a great circle, but rather the opposite of a great circle.