Better Temperature Zones for Global Warming
The current zones are too wide for human understanding of a heating Earth. Colors of the rainbow are used for both Fixed Average Zones and Variable Zones.
From Wikipedia we have the following:
The five main latitude regions of Earth’s surface comprise geographical zones, divided by the major circles of latitude. The differences between them relate to climate. They are as follows:
The North Frigid Zone, between the North Pole at 90° N and the Arctic Circle at 66°33′48.7" N, covers 4.12% of Earth’s surface.
The North Temperate Zone, between the Arctic Circle at 66°33′48.7" N and the Tropic of Cancer at 23°26'11.3" N, covers 25.99% of Earth’s surface.
The Torrid Zone, between the Tropic of Cancer at 23°26'11.3" N and the Tropic of Capricorn at 23°26'11.3" S, covers 39.78% of Earth’s surface.
The South Temperate Zone, between the Tropic of Capricorn at 23°26'11.3" S and the Antarctic Circle at 66°33'48.7" S, covers 25.99% of Earth’s surface.
The South Frigid Zone, from the Antarctic Circle at 66°33'48.7" S and the South Pole at 90° S, covers 4.12% of Earth’s surface.
The third zone is also called the tropics:
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator.
They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at 23°26′10.4″ (or 23.43621°) N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at 23°26′10.4″ (or 23.43621°) S.
The tropics are also referred to as the tropical zone and the torrid zone.
For our warming earth, these traditional temperature zones are entirely too wide.
The North Temperate Zone contains both Anchorage (61.2°) and Miami (25.6°), with the lowest 20° of this zone from May to late August baked by the sun being directly overhead of the Tropic of Cancer on June 21st.
A reasoned approach, using facts, is designed to help convince decision makers for the need to make a change.
This article will focus on the Northern Hemisphere (NH) since this is where 90% of humanity lives. The Southern Hemisphere may be regarded as a mirror image.
Since the angle of the Sun is the first determination of temperature, these zones need to be bounded by circles of latitude.
Role of the Equator
The Equator needs to be the center of a symmetric zone extending into the NH and the Southern Hemisphere. This zone cannot be from the Tropic of Capricorn to the Tropic of Cancer (each of which is of 23.5° from the Equator) because A 47°-wide zone covers a huge amount of the surface of the Earth (39.78%) and has too much variation in temperature.
What should be northern latitude boundary of the first zone? The simplest solution is to divide 23.5° in half and get 11.75°.
Role of the Tropic of Cancer, 23.5° Latitude
This latitude is where the sun is directly overhead at noon local time at the summer solstice. North of this latitude the sun is never directly overhead. Obviously, the Tropic of Cancer needs to be the center or the boundary of a proposed zone.
Choosing it to be the center of a zone leads immediately to a 23.5° zone centered at the Equator and a 23.5° zone centered on the tropic of Cancer. Logically this would extend to other 23.5° wide zones in the NH. The zones would be (11.75°-35.25°), (35.25°-58.75°), and (58.75°-90.00°), with the last expanded to avoid a 7.75° zone.
A 23.5° zone centered on the Equator makes perfect sense. However elsewhere these 23.5° zones have too much variation in temperature but are still better than current zones. If the Tropic of Cancer is to be a boundary, we are led to the first two zones being 0° to 11.75° and 11.75° to 23.5°. The latitude of Houston is 29.8° and Boston is 42.3°. This difference is 12.8°, most people would agree that these two cities should either be in different zones or at the extreme edges of a zone. Having zones above the Tropic of Cancer being in the neighborhood of 11.75° makes sense.
How important is the Arctic Circle, 66.5° N latitude, to be a boundary of a zone?
Before making a determination, lets try out each for size.
If the Arctic Circle must be one of the boundaries:
The Case for Including the Arctic Circle
The day of summer solstice, the area above the Arctic Circle has sunlight all day long. The day of the winter solstice, there is no sunlight above the Arctic Circle.
The Case for Ignoring the Arctic Circle
Having 11.75°-wide zones has simplicity and uniformity for most of the Earth. At noon local time at the summer solstice, the sun is only 43° above the horizon. Given the Sun’s very low angle most of the time, the temperature difference between 66.5° and 70.5° is likely more influenced by other climate factors. If 70.5° is used, a considerable portion of the land above the Arctic Circle would be included in this zone. If global warming gets more out of control, this land will become more habitable for humanity. Of course, some official organization will need to make the decision.
If both of these “narrow” zones are rejected, the “powers that be” need to seriously consider the mostly 23.5° wide zones, which in the NH are: (0.00° — 11.25°), (71.25° — 35.25°), (35.25° — 58.75°) and (58.75° — 90.00°). For the Earth as a whole, this would be 7 zones in comparison to the current 5.
Significance of these Fixed Temperature Zones
Humanity is already at risk in the complied Red Zones for famine and the need to leave the zone. Unless people are close for the coast or at elevation above 2000 feet, future condition could become unbearable. In the Western Hemisphere, the combined Red Zone extends from almost Lima Peru to Costa Rica. It includes much of the Amazon basin. If much more of the Amazon forest is cut down, its local climate could collapse, meaning it would collapse. The Red Zone in Africa is more level without high mountains. It includes most of Sub-Sahara. Further east we have the lowest part of Southeast Aria and Indonesia. The two Orange Zones will be next on the chopping block of human misery. In contrast, the Green and Blue Zones will become more habitable for humanity.
NH Variable Temperature Zones
Instead of these zones being fixed and just an average, they could follow the sun from being directly overhead at the March equinox to being directly overhead at the Tropic of Cancer (23.5° N) at the summer solstice. It would then decline back to the Equator, etc. An algorithm could determine each day’s zones.
The additional narrow 7.75° white zone at the equinoxes disappears long before the summer solstice. However, it expands to 31.25° wide at the winter solstice, and includes almost all of Alaska.
Bogota’s Seasons, 4.6° Latitude
As we saw earlier, there is a double-humped hot season centered at the June solstice.
Conclusion
This concludes this article’s formal presentation of these color-coded temperature zones for the heating Earth into the market place of ideas.
If you want to see a version of these rainbow zones on your cell phone, please pass this article on to friends so it will eventually reach a policy maker.
Appendix 1: Video of Transitions
Even of these color zones are not adopted, a video of the Variable Zones would be educationally beneficial. Let a globe of the Earth rotate about every 10 seconds. Projected on this global would be the Variable Zones starting at the March equinox. They would slowly move up to the June solstice then down twice and then back to the beginning. This speed of movement would be similar to the Y coordinate of Y=sin(X).
Appendix 2: Possibility of More Variability
NH Variable Temperature Zones with an Average Lag to the Sun’s Angle
In the U.S. we are aware of the temperature generally being coldest in the latter part of January than at the winter solstice around December 21st. Similarly, the temperature is generally being hottest in late July than at the summer solstice around June 21st. Subjectively, this lag is about 4 weeks. In the tropics this lag is likely less than 2 weeks. In Alaska, this is likely at least 5 weeks. Is the relative lag less at each equinox versus each solstice? Once an overall global average lag is determined, it could be incorporated into the “motion” of the Variable Temperature Zones.
NH Variable Temperature Zones with a Variable lag to the Sun’s Angle.
Using data and computer software, the amount of lag could vary by time of year as necessary. Also, the variable by latitude could be accomplished by varying both boundaries of the zones (mostly 11.7⁵⁰) wide by a few degrees.
Appendix 3: Lesser-Known Facts about Seasons
Equator’s Different Seasons
There are two very hot seasons centered over each equinox when the sun is directly overhead at noon local time. These of course are six months apart. The sun at each solstice is 23.5° off vertical in opposite directions. Seasons centered on the Equator would be just hot.
11.75° Latitude Unique Seasons
Beginning at the March equinox, the sun would be 11.75° off vertical at noon local time. This would shrink to 0° in about 6 weeks. Later, the maximum off vertical would be at the June solstice at 11.75° in the opposite direction. This is one long hot season which we can begin to call summer.
Transition of the Seasons Crossing the Equator
Children are taught in elementary school, “The Seasons in the Southern Hemisphere are opposite those of the Northern Hemisphere.” This is less than completely true because it leads to an impossibility at the Equator. We need to add to the qualification, “except close to the Equator.” More completely, at any time during the year, a season in the Northern Hemisphere gradually and continuously transforms itself, over around 20° latitude, into the opposite season in the Southern Hemisphere.
