Is it possible to have a strip of cold climate in the middle of a planet? Announcing the arrival of Valued Associate #679: Cesar Manara Planned maintenance scheduled April 23, 2019 at 23:30 UTC (7:30pm US/Eastern)Is it possible to have a planet that has seasons and is also cold at the equator and hot both poles?What would a planet spinning fast enough to allow geostationary orbit near the surface look like?Could a cold planet (tundra) develop and maintain a breathable atmosphere for humans?What is the expected terrain for an arid highly eccentric Earth-like planet?Single biome (hot) desert planet, possible?ELEVEN Inner Planets?! What Will the Ice Ages Be Like?Climate effects caused by two orbiting sources of hot and cold radiationIs planet similar to Crematoria possible in real life?What would the climate on a planet with 85% or more of the surface area covered in water be like?What rough climate and/or biome classifications would I assign to a planet with 31.1 degrees axial tilt?What circumference would a no season temperate climate planet have
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Is it possible to have a strip of cold climate in the middle of a planet?
Announcing the arrival of Valued Associate #679: Cesar Manara
Planned maintenance scheduled April 23, 2019 at 23:30 UTC (7:30pm US/Eastern)Is it possible to have a planet that has seasons and is also cold at the equator and hot both poles?What would a planet spinning fast enough to allow geostationary orbit near the surface look like?Could a cold planet (tundra) develop and maintain a breathable atmosphere for humans?What is the expected terrain for an arid highly eccentric Earth-like planet?Single biome (hot) desert planet, possible?ELEVEN Inner Planets?! What Will the Ice Ages Be Like?Climate effects caused by two orbiting sources of hot and cold radiationIs planet similar to Crematoria possible in real life?What would the climate on a planet with 85% or more of the surface area covered in water be like?What rough climate and/or biome classifications would I assign to a planet with 31.1 degrees axial tilt?What circumference would a no season temperate climate planet have
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Would it be possible to have a region on a planet that is not near its poles that has below freezing temperatures most of the year, while having more temperate regions both above and below it? If so how? Would the sun have to do a weird? Would the planet need to be an odd shape? Is it just impossible? Also, the planet is going to be lower mass than earth, and and needs to have a stable climate capable of sustaining conventional life in the temperate regions.
science-based planets climate
asked Mar 23 at 19:05
DaveDave
13123
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show 2 more comments
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Would it be possible to have a region on a planet that is not near its poles that has below freezing temperatures most of the year, while having more temperate regions both above and below it? If so how? Would the sun have to do a weird? Would the planet need to be an odd shape? Is it just impossible? Also, the planet is going to be lower mass than earth, and and needs to have a stable climate capable of sustaining conventional life in the temperate regions.
science-based planets climate
asked Mar 23 at 19:05
DaveDave
13123
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41
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Mountains ? Altitude is your friend
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– Raditz_35
Mar 23 at 19:16
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On Earth sometimes cold air from the poles goes all the way to the equator and past it through some corridors. That's common in Brazil, but it's not constant.
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– Renan
Mar 23 at 19:30
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How big you want that region to be? How "normal" it has to be?
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– Artemijs Danilovs
Mar 23 at 19:37
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What's wrong with Tibet?
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– AlexP
Mar 23 at 20:19
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as an alternative to mountains, would debris belt of some kind work? you have a fairly thick ring blocking most of the sun. this is of course a pretty fantastical alternatives to simply having a mountain range
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– Nullman
Mar 25 at 8:48
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show 2 more comments
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Would it be possible to have a region on a planet that is not near its poles that has below freezing temperatures most of the year, while having more temperate regions both above and below it? If so how? Would the sun have to do a weird? Would the planet need to be an odd shape? Is it just impossible? Also, the planet is going to be lower mass than earth, and and needs to have a stable climate capable of sustaining conventional life in the temperate regions.
science-based planets climate
asked Mar 23 at 19:05
DaveDave
13123
$endgroup$
Would it be possible to have a region on a planet that is not near its poles that has below freezing temperatures most of the year, while having more temperate regions both above and below it? If so how? Would the sun have to do a weird? Would the planet need to be an odd shape? Is it just impossible? Also, the planet is going to be lower mass than earth, and and needs to have a stable climate capable of sustaining conventional life in the temperate regions.
science-based planets climate
science-based planets climate
asked Mar 23 at 19:05
DaveDave
13123
asked Mar 23 at 19:05
DaveDave
13123
asked Mar 23 at 19:05
DaveDave
13123
asked Mar 23 at 19:05
DaveDave
13123
asked Mar 23 at 19:05
DaveDave
13123
13123
41
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Mountains ? Altitude is your friend
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– Raditz_35
Mar 23 at 19:16
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On Earth sometimes cold air from the poles goes all the way to the equator and past it through some corridors. That's common in Brazil, but it's not constant.
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– Renan
Mar 23 at 19:30
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How big you want that region to be? How "normal" it has to be?
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– Artemijs Danilovs
Mar 23 at 19:37
5
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What's wrong with Tibet?
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– AlexP
Mar 23 at 20:19
1
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as an alternative to mountains, would debris belt of some kind work? you have a fairly thick ring blocking most of the sun. this is of course a pretty fantastical alternatives to simply having a mountain range
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– Nullman
Mar 25 at 8:48
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show 2 more comments
41
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Mountains ? Altitude is your friend
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– Raditz_35
Mar 23 at 19:16
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On Earth sometimes cold air from the poles goes all the way to the equator and past it through some corridors. That's common in Brazil, but it's not constant.
$endgroup$
– Renan
Mar 23 at 19:30
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How big you want that region to be? How "normal" it has to be?
$endgroup$
– Artemijs Danilovs
Mar 23 at 19:37
5
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What's wrong with Tibet?
$endgroup$
– AlexP
Mar 23 at 20:19
1
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as an alternative to mountains, would debris belt of some kind work? you have a fairly thick ring blocking most of the sun. this is of course a pretty fantastical alternatives to simply having a mountain range
$endgroup$
– Nullman
Mar 25 at 8:48
41
41
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Mountains ? Altitude is your friend
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– Raditz_35
Mar 23 at 19:16
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Mountains ? Altitude is your friend
$endgroup$
– Raditz_35
Mar 23 at 19:16
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On Earth sometimes cold air from the poles goes all the way to the equator and past it through some corridors. That's common in Brazil, but it's not constant.
$endgroup$
– Renan
Mar 23 at 19:30
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On Earth sometimes cold air from the poles goes all the way to the equator and past it through some corridors. That's common in Brazil, but it's not constant.
$endgroup$
– Renan
Mar 23 at 19:30
$begingroup$
How big you want that region to be? How "normal" it has to be?
$endgroup$
– Artemijs Danilovs
Mar 23 at 19:37
$begingroup$
How big you want that region to be? How "normal" it has to be?
$endgroup$
– Artemijs Danilovs
Mar 23 at 19:37
5
5
$begingroup$
What's wrong with Tibet?
$endgroup$
– AlexP
Mar 23 at 20:19
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What's wrong with Tibet?
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– AlexP
Mar 23 at 20:19
1
1
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as an alternative to mountains, would debris belt of some kind work? you have a fairly thick ring blocking most of the sun. this is of course a pretty fantastical alternatives to simply having a mountain range
$endgroup$
– Nullman
Mar 25 at 8:48
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as an alternative to mountains, would debris belt of some kind work? you have a fairly thick ring blocking most of the sun. this is of course a pretty fantastical alternatives to simply having a mountain range
$endgroup$
– Nullman
Mar 25 at 8:48
|
show 2 more comments
11 Answers
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As Raditz_35 points out in comments, mountains - even equatorial ones - are colder at higher altitudes. For instance, Mt. Kilimanjaro is only three degrees off the equator, but its summit is cold enough to host glaciers. But what you want isn't just one mountain, it's a whole ring of them, mostly along the equator.
Enter Iapetus, the eighth moon of Saturn and the third-largest. Among Iapetus's features is a pronounced ridge of mountains, some as much as 20 kilometers high, and over 1300 km long (longer if one takes into account isolated peaks that fall along the same line in both directions). This ring follows the Iapetian equator for no clearly-defined reason. It may be a remnant of some earlier phase of planet formation, such as former planetary rings, or it may have been caused by Saturn's gravity as the moon cooled. It might even have formed through the same natural buoyant forces that cause continents on Earth. Whatever the case, if Iapetus had an Earthlike climate on its plains (and I must stress that it absolutely doesn't) the ridges would be frozen solid for most of their height. Obviously you'll want your equatorial ridge to be a smidge less pronounced.
answered Mar 23 at 19:57
CadenceCadence
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Since earth's equator is already higher than our highest mountain compared to the poles, when does something cease to become a mountain and start to be just the landscape? Is electrical engineering we use a term called crest factor do quantify how "sharp" something is compared to its base level. Maybe something like that could be used here too.
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– pipe
Mar 25 at 12:32
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@Pipe The flattening of the earth has little to do with mountain ranges. As the flattening of earth is an effect of its rotation. - As such the atmosphere experiences a similar "flattening". Since the atmospheric density/composition influences the temperature gradient through altitude - it's easy to define mountains as elevations beyond what is expected from gravitational effects.
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– paul23
Mar 25 at 14:01
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We need to add that the standard atmosphere - while there are quite a few models - typically have increase in temperature at higher altitude. Up to the tropopause (12km) it's typically a linear reduce of temperature with altitude. In the stratosphere (20-40k altitude) the temperature actually raises(!) with altitude, up to about -10-20 degrees of sea level. (Due to the effects of ozone decay and excitation of cosmic radiation).
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– paul23
Mar 25 at 14:06
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@paul23 the temperature increases wouldn't "feel" like temperature increases though, since the significantly thinner atmosphere means that there's much less heat energy.
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– David Rice
Mar 25 at 15:05
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@DavidRice yet also -equally- less convection/conduction. Which only leaves cooling through radiation. Which is slow. (In space you won't instantly freeze, even though the ambient temperature is only a few Kelvin)
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– paul23
Mar 25 at 15:18
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You can do it with elevation.
http://www.estarte.me/world-temperatures-map.html/world-temperatures-map-file-annual-average-temperature-jpg-wikimedia-commons
Here is a map of average temperature on Earth. I have labeled the Andes and the Himalayas. They are high elevation areas and you can see they are substantially cooler than adjacent areas at the same latitude (same distance from the equator). The Himalayas are more a patch than a strip but otherwise are exactly /a region on a planet that is not near its poles that has below freezing temperatures most of the year, while having more temperate regions both above and below it/.
You could accentuate this. Make a high mountain range where you need it to be cold. It does not need to be steep mountains - it could be a high plateau. The higher it is, the colder it is.
answered Mar 23 at 20:00
WillkWillk
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I love the "I want to build a world with X, is it possible?" "Possible? It's on every confirmed habitable planet we know of!!" questions. Sometimes the answer is right under our nose.
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– corsiKa
Mar 24 at 0:12
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I would add an arrow to the rockies as well they seem cooler in climate in some patches than the rest of the continental us on that map
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– Echo61505
Mar 24 at 15:04
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Your arrow for the Himalayas actually points to the Tibetian Plateau. I'd not normally comment this, but I still harbour resentment to a geography test on which I got 99%, and my only mistake was exactly this...
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– James K
Mar 24 at 21:36
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Interest only: Look at the nice yellowish streak going up the West side of the Bristish Isles and far to the North. This is caused by the Gulf Stream carrying warm water northwards and the Atlantic Conveyor carrying the cold water back below it for reheating. Without this I'm told that the BI would be permanently ice-locked. I'm not sure that's true but they would certainly not be the balmy sunny subtropical place they now are. Hey! Wait .. :-). Drop the UK into the Southern Ocean at correct lattitude and it lies wholly below NZ - and Invercargill is not known for its halcyon winters.
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– Russell McMahon
Mar 25 at 6:03
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@corsiKa: "It's on every confirmed habitable planet we know of!!" So... one?
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– DavidS
Mar 25 at 16:12
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Yes - based on the planet's rotational axis
A cold climate (wherein "cold" is relative to what we consider "conventional life") in the "middle" (by "middle" assuming "equator" - ie, on the crust but centrally according to the longitude and latitude of it's rotational axis, and therefore not a planet's core) is most definitely possible
In fact, Uranus spins "on it's side" - at least how we think of "sides" in space. A neat youtube video off planet axis is here
Depending on it's directionality, a planet whose spin (like Uranus') is perpendicular to it's sun, the the north/south poles would be more temperate than it's equator. In other words, if you "flipped" the earth such that the equator was rotating at a different angle relative to the sun, then the poles would be more temperate with a different climate at the equator - whether hotter or colder.
answered Mar 23 at 19:38
cegfaultcegfault
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This would result in a very hot summer and very cold winter at the poles. The equator would be pleasant in the spring/fall seasons, and pretty cold during the winter/summer seasons. I don't think it's quite what you're looking for, but it would be a fascinating place to set a story.
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– Mark Foskey
Mar 24 at 0:13
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Actually you don't need to go for a full sideways rotation axis. 54 degrees of tilt is the magic number for the pole switch. This diagram illustrates the matter nicely. m.imgur.com/yJHPwd7
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– TheDyingOfLight
Mar 24 at 21:46
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Imagine a world at the L5 point between a binary star system, with it's rotational axis pointing at the suns. This planet's coolest area would be the belt around the middle.
answered Mar 25 at 19:28
DAmannDAmann
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Hello DAmann, welcome to the forum, please take the tour and read up in our help centre about how we work in the help center. This is the briefest first answer that I've ever upvoted, we normaly expect (demand) more elaborate explanations, but this succinctly does the job in my view.
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– Agrajag
Mar 25 at 19:41
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Asteroid Belt
Maybe perpetual darkness via an extremely dense ring of asteroids around the planet. Because it is always dark and receives very little light (energy) it gets very very cold. Could be that this is enough to give you freezing temperatures.
How to explain an asteroid belt dense enough is another question. My suggestion would be that ice moons are orbiting the planet with a liquid cores. As they orbit the planet they get squeezed and released (tidal forces) which releases water which gets pulled very slowly towards the planet and creates this ice asteroid field which reflects the light coming in. (I think this is how they explain the rings of Saturn currently)
answered Mar 23 at 19:52
TolureTolure
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This would require the planet's rotary axis and orbital axis to be perfectly aligned. It also requires the belt to be extremely wide (unstable wide, top of the belt would follow a complete different orbit than the bottom) or extremely close (within atmosphere), otherwise the shade cast by the belt will be less than a few miles - which is too little to create a difference in climate, convection can easily keep everything in line.
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– paul23
Mar 25 at 14:09
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As others have mentioned, altitude would be your answer. Since that's already established, I'm going to suggest a couple ways a tall ring around the equator could be accomplished.
Planetoid Smash
In the early days of the planet forming, another planet of a similar (small) size was forming as well in the neighborhood and while they were both still semi-molten, they bumped into each and stuck together. This could have left a raised band between the formerly two planetoids as they smashed together.
How uniform or weathered this ring is is up to you.
High Spin
As we know, the Earth bulges slightly around the equator, due to it's spin. Again, before your planet fully solidified, it had an abnormally high rate of spin, causing the bulge to be more pronounced than normal with it ending up as tall as terrestrial mountains.
Whether it still has that high spin is up to you.
The high spin rate would probably have a more uniform ring, but a non-uniform ring could have valleys and holes/caves that could allow easier travel between the hemispheres.
answered Mar 24 at 0:32
computercarguycomputercarguy
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combine the high spin with some type of plate weakness right in the middle, creating a ring of volcanoes at the equator.
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– Nelson
Mar 24 at 16:08
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Getting rid of a high spin rate would be hard though.
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– Martin Bonner
Mar 25 at 16:52
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The spin would still need to be high, otherwise the planet would pretty quickly return to its spherical form. Besides, losing spin is really, really hard.
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– toolforger
Mar 25 at 19:55
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If you set the axial tilt to a certain range, the equator would become arctic and the poles would be tropical. I believe it's 45 degrees, but I could be mistaken, Artifexian's youtube video on the topic of Axial Tilt covers this if I recall correctly. (I can't check at the moment)
answered Mar 25 at 13:22
Foosic17Foosic17
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It's between 50 and 60 degrees, but yes, you can swap the climates of the equator and poles, at least in the sense of which gets more total sunlight over the course of the year.
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– Mark
Mar 25 at 21:50
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Your planet is an odd one: It has no axial tilt and no seasons.
In old days, in the time of magicians, they wrought the Bridge of the World to feed their lust for power. Six great towers to the sky were created (beanstalks) and they became the pylons for the Bridge.
Ok, ok.
6 beanstalks. From there, you build a ring city around the earth over the equator. This city could easily expand to be quite wide -- 20-100 miles which would create a permanent shadow band along the equator.
It would much like the temperature drop that comes with a solar eclipse, but it would keep going. At some point the temperature is balanced by cold air settling and rushing out from the Shadow Lands, and warm air rushing in. I don't know how effective the circulation would be.
answered Mar 25 at 5:12
Sherwood BotsfordSherwood Botsford
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Mmmyyes, but the question is science-based.
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– Wilson
Mar 25 at 11:42
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So the cause is leftover technology.
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– Sherwood Botsford
Mar 26 at 0:01
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For an inverse real world effect look on Willk's global temperature map at the nice warm (yellowish) streak going up the West side of the Bristish Isles and far to the North.
This is caused by the Gulf Stream carrying warm water northwards and the Atlantic Conveyor carrying the cold water back below it for reheating.
Without this I'm told that the British Isles would be permanently ice-locked. I'm not sure that's true but they would certainly not be the balmy sunny subtropical place they now are. Hey! Wait .. :-). Drop the British Isles into the Southern Ocean at correct latitude and it lies wholly below NZ (bottom right on the map) - and Invercargill, at the bottom of NZ, is not known for its halcyon winters.
answered Mar 25 at 6:09
Russell McMahonRussell McMahon
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I don't think we'd be ice-locked, but if you consider that Edinburgh is roughly on the same line of latitude as Moscow, I think even the Scots might start to complain about the weather!
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– neophlegm
Mar 25 at 10:20
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@neophlegm Yes. As noted, I would not have deduced the ice-locked condition by looking at the overall picture. However - look at the above temperature map and note that the gulf stream warming appears to warm the whole of Scandinavia plus the West side of Russia - so even Moscow benefits from the warming!. - Coastal temperatures elsewhere are also much affected by wider geography. I've shivered in Chinese factories with snow on the ground in Qingdao (on the coast), at a lattitide that in coastal Australia at the same latitude would have seen a cold day but never ever snow.
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– Russell McMahon
Mar 26 at 4:00
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Volcanic Fallout
The prevailing surface winds at the equator are due west (balanced by high level jet streams off the equator blowing due east.) With active volcano(s) at the equator, the fallout would be carried due west and under the right circumstances might create a band of cool at the surface.
The largest volcanic eruption on Earth in the last 800 years was https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Tambora (indonesia, 8 degrees south of the equator.)
This certainly had climatic influence, though perhaps not as local as you are looking for. Sulfuric acid in the atmosphere from the eruption, with max intensity in April 1815 reduced the amount of sunlight reaching the earth's surface. This caused "the year without a summer" as far away as Europe and North America in the following year 1816, resulting in a 3C temperature drop in France and the worst famine of the century. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer
Peak annual temperatures on earth are not highest at the equator
It's also worth noting that peak (as opposed to average) annual temperatures are highest a little off the equator. For example in Africa peak temperatures occur not at the equator but in the deserts of the Sahara and southern Africa.
answered Mar 25 at 13:25
Level River StLevel River St
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As @Willk pointed out, you just need altitude.
Now the question is: How do you get that altitude in a band around the equator.
You could figure that with plate tectonics moving things around, for a brief time (in a geological sense), mountain range could line up on or near the equator.
Another, more believable, solution is to have a super earth with a high rate of spin. This planet will tend to bulge out at the equator. If the bulge is significant enough, it will get large enough for there to be a difference in the perceived gravity between the pole and the equator. This would allow mountains to grow higher on the equator. Look at Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement as an extreme example of this type of world.
answered Mar 25 at 21:27
ShadoCatShadoCat
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11 Answers
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11 Answers
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As Raditz_35 points out in comments, mountains - even equatorial ones - are colder at higher altitudes. For instance, Mt. Kilimanjaro is only three degrees off the equator, but its summit is cold enough to host glaciers. But what you want isn't just one mountain, it's a whole ring of them, mostly along the equator.
Enter Iapetus, the eighth moon of Saturn and the third-largest. Among Iapetus's features is a pronounced ridge of mountains, some as much as 20 kilometers high, and over 1300 km long (longer if one takes into account isolated peaks that fall along the same line in both directions). This ring follows the Iapetian equator for no clearly-defined reason. It may be a remnant of some earlier phase of planet formation, such as former planetary rings, or it may have been caused by Saturn's gravity as the moon cooled. It might even have formed through the same natural buoyant forces that cause continents on Earth. Whatever the case, if Iapetus had an Earthlike climate on its plains (and I must stress that it absolutely doesn't) the ridges would be frozen solid for most of their height. Obviously you'll want your equatorial ridge to be a smidge less pronounced.
answered Mar 23 at 19:57
CadenceCadence
16k53057
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Since earth's equator is already higher than our highest mountain compared to the poles, when does something cease to become a mountain and start to be just the landscape? Is electrical engineering we use a term called crest factor do quantify how "sharp" something is compared to its base level. Maybe something like that could be used here too.
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– pipe
Mar 25 at 12:32
$begingroup$
@Pipe The flattening of the earth has little to do with mountain ranges. As the flattening of earth is an effect of its rotation. - As such the atmosphere experiences a similar "flattening". Since the atmospheric density/composition influences the temperature gradient through altitude - it's easy to define mountains as elevations beyond what is expected from gravitational effects.
$endgroup$
– paul23
Mar 25 at 14:01
$begingroup$
We need to add that the standard atmosphere - while there are quite a few models - typically have increase in temperature at higher altitude. Up to the tropopause (12km) it's typically a linear reduce of temperature with altitude. In the stratosphere (20-40k altitude) the temperature actually raises(!) with altitude, up to about -10-20 degrees of sea level. (Due to the effects of ozone decay and excitation of cosmic radiation).
$endgroup$
– paul23
Mar 25 at 14:06
$begingroup$
@paul23 the temperature increases wouldn't "feel" like temperature increases though, since the significantly thinner atmosphere means that there's much less heat energy.
$endgroup$
– David Rice
Mar 25 at 15:05
1
$begingroup$
@DavidRice yet also -equally- less convection/conduction. Which only leaves cooling through radiation. Which is slow. (In space you won't instantly freeze, even though the ambient temperature is only a few Kelvin)
$endgroup$
– paul23
Mar 25 at 15:18
add a comment |
$begingroup$
As Raditz_35 points out in comments, mountains - even equatorial ones - are colder at higher altitudes. For instance, Mt. Kilimanjaro is only three degrees off the equator, but its summit is cold enough to host glaciers. But what you want isn't just one mountain, it's a whole ring of them, mostly along the equator.
Enter Iapetus, the eighth moon of Saturn and the third-largest. Among Iapetus's features is a pronounced ridge of mountains, some as much as 20 kilometers high, and over 1300 km long (longer if one takes into account isolated peaks that fall along the same line in both directions). This ring follows the Iapetian equator for no clearly-defined reason. It may be a remnant of some earlier phase of planet formation, such as former planetary rings, or it may have been caused by Saturn's gravity as the moon cooled. It might even have formed through the same natural buoyant forces that cause continents on Earth. Whatever the case, if Iapetus had an Earthlike climate on its plains (and I must stress that it absolutely doesn't) the ridges would be frozen solid for most of their height. Obviously you'll want your equatorial ridge to be a smidge less pronounced.
answered Mar 23 at 19:57
CadenceCadence
16k53057
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
Since earth's equator is already higher than our highest mountain compared to the poles, when does something cease to become a mountain and start to be just the landscape? Is electrical engineering we use a term called crest factor do quantify how "sharp" something is compared to its base level. Maybe something like that could be used here too.
$endgroup$
– pipe
Mar 25 at 12:32
$begingroup$
@Pipe The flattening of the earth has little to do with mountain ranges. As the flattening of earth is an effect of its rotation. - As such the atmosphere experiences a similar "flattening". Since the atmospheric density/composition influences the temperature gradient through altitude - it's easy to define mountains as elevations beyond what is expected from gravitational effects.
$endgroup$
– paul23
Mar 25 at 14:01
$begingroup$
We need to add that the standard atmosphere - while there are quite a few models - typically have increase in temperature at higher altitude. Up to the tropopause (12km) it's typically a linear reduce of temperature with altitude. In the stratosphere (20-40k altitude) the temperature actually raises(!) with altitude, up to about -10-20 degrees of sea level. (Due to the effects of ozone decay and excitation of cosmic radiation).
$endgroup$
– paul23
Mar 25 at 14:06
$begingroup$
@paul23 the temperature increases wouldn't "feel" like temperature increases though, since the significantly thinner atmosphere means that there's much less heat energy.
$endgroup$
– David Rice
Mar 25 at 15:05
1
$begingroup$
@DavidRice yet also -equally- less convection/conduction. Which only leaves cooling through radiation. Which is slow. (In space you won't instantly freeze, even though the ambient temperature is only a few Kelvin)
$endgroup$
– paul23
Mar 25 at 15:18
add a comment |
$begingroup$
As Raditz_35 points out in comments, mountains - even equatorial ones - are colder at higher altitudes. For instance, Mt. Kilimanjaro is only three degrees off the equator, but its summit is cold enough to host glaciers. But what you want isn't just one mountain, it's a whole ring of them, mostly along the equator.
Enter Iapetus, the eighth moon of Saturn and the third-largest. Among Iapetus's features is a pronounced ridge of mountains, some as much as 20 kilometers high, and over 1300 km long (longer if one takes into account isolated peaks that fall along the same line in both directions). This ring follows the Iapetian equator for no clearly-defined reason. It may be a remnant of some earlier phase of planet formation, such as former planetary rings, or it may have been caused by Saturn's gravity as the moon cooled. It might even have formed through the same natural buoyant forces that cause continents on Earth. Whatever the case, if Iapetus had an Earthlike climate on its plains (and I must stress that it absolutely doesn't) the ridges would be frozen solid for most of their height. Obviously you'll want your equatorial ridge to be a smidge less pronounced.
answered Mar 23 at 19:57
CadenceCadence
16k53057
$endgroup$
As Raditz_35 points out in comments, mountains - even equatorial ones - are colder at higher altitudes. For instance, Mt. Kilimanjaro is only three degrees off the equator, but its summit is cold enough to host glaciers. But what you want isn't just one mountain, it's a whole ring of them, mostly along the equator.
Enter Iapetus, the eighth moon of Saturn and the third-largest. Among Iapetus's features is a pronounced ridge of mountains, some as much as 20 kilometers high, and over 1300 km long (longer if one takes into account isolated peaks that fall along the same line in both directions). This ring follows the Iapetian equator for no clearly-defined reason. It may be a remnant of some earlier phase of planet formation, such as former planetary rings, or it may have been caused by Saturn's gravity as the moon cooled. It might even have formed through the same natural buoyant forces that cause continents on Earth. Whatever the case, if Iapetus had an Earthlike climate on its plains (and I must stress that it absolutely doesn't) the ridges would be frozen solid for most of their height. Obviously you'll want your equatorial ridge to be a smidge less pronounced.
answered Mar 23 at 19:57
CadenceCadence
16k53057
answered Mar 23 at 19:57
CadenceCadence
16k53057
answered Mar 23 at 19:57
CadenceCadence
16k53057
answered Mar 23 at 19:57
CadenceCadence
16k53057
16k53057
$begingroup$
Since earth's equator is already higher than our highest mountain compared to the poles, when does something cease to become a mountain and start to be just the landscape? Is electrical engineering we use a term called crest factor do quantify how "sharp" something is compared to its base level. Maybe something like that could be used here too.
$endgroup$
– pipe
Mar 25 at 12:32
$begingroup$
@Pipe The flattening of the earth has little to do with mountain ranges. As the flattening of earth is an effect of its rotation. - As such the atmosphere experiences a similar "flattening". Since the atmospheric density/composition influences the temperature gradient through altitude - it's easy to define mountains as elevations beyond what is expected from gravitational effects.
$endgroup$
– paul23
Mar 25 at 14:01
$begingroup$
We need to add that the standard atmosphere - while there are quite a few models - typically have increase in temperature at higher altitude. Up to the tropopause (12km) it's typically a linear reduce of temperature with altitude. In the stratosphere (20-40k altitude) the temperature actually raises(!) with altitude, up to about -10-20 degrees of sea level. (Due to the effects of ozone decay and excitation of cosmic radiation).
$endgroup$
– paul23
Mar 25 at 14:06
$begingroup$
@paul23 the temperature increases wouldn't "feel" like temperature increases though, since the significantly thinner atmosphere means that there's much less heat energy.
$endgroup$
– David Rice
Mar 25 at 15:05
1
$begingroup$
@DavidRice yet also -equally- less convection/conduction. Which only leaves cooling through radiation. Which is slow. (In space you won't instantly freeze, even though the ambient temperature is only a few Kelvin)
$endgroup$
– paul23
Mar 25 at 15:18
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Since earth's equator is already higher than our highest mountain compared to the poles, when does something cease to become a mountain and start to be just the landscape? Is electrical engineering we use a term called crest factor do quantify how "sharp" something is compared to its base level. Maybe something like that could be used here too.
$endgroup$
– pipe
Mar 25 at 12:32
$begingroup$
@Pipe The flattening of the earth has little to do with mountain ranges. As the flattening of earth is an effect of its rotation. - As such the atmosphere experiences a similar "flattening". Since the atmospheric density/composition influences the temperature gradient through altitude - it's easy to define mountains as elevations beyond what is expected from gravitational effects.
$endgroup$
– paul23
Mar 25 at 14:01
$begingroup$
We need to add that the standard atmosphere - while there are quite a few models - typically have increase in temperature at higher altitude. Up to the tropopause (12km) it's typically a linear reduce of temperature with altitude. In the stratosphere (20-40k altitude) the temperature actually raises(!) with altitude, up to about -10-20 degrees of sea level. (Due to the effects of ozone decay and excitation of cosmic radiation).
$endgroup$
– paul23
Mar 25 at 14:06
$begingroup$
@paul23 the temperature increases wouldn't "feel" like temperature increases though, since the significantly thinner atmosphere means that there's much less heat energy.
$endgroup$
– David Rice
Mar 25 at 15:05
1
$begingroup$
@DavidRice yet also -equally- less convection/conduction. Which only leaves cooling through radiation. Which is slow. (In space you won't instantly freeze, even though the ambient temperature is only a few Kelvin)
$endgroup$
– paul23
Mar 25 at 15:18
$begingroup$
Since earth's equator is already higher than our highest mountain compared to the poles, when does something cease to become a mountain and start to be just the landscape? Is electrical engineering we use a term called crest factor do quantify how "sharp" something is compared to its base level. Maybe something like that could be used here too.
$endgroup$
– pipe
Mar 25 at 12:32
$begingroup$
Since earth's equator is already higher than our highest mountain compared to the poles, when does something cease to become a mountain and start to be just the landscape? Is electrical engineering we use a term called crest factor do quantify how "sharp" something is compared to its base level. Maybe something like that could be used here too.
$endgroup$
– pipe
Mar 25 at 12:32
$begingroup$
@Pipe The flattening of the earth has little to do with mountain ranges. As the flattening of earth is an effect of its rotation. - As such the atmosphere experiences a similar "flattening". Since the atmospheric density/composition influences the temperature gradient through altitude - it's easy to define mountains as elevations beyond what is expected from gravitational effects.
$endgroup$
– paul23
Mar 25 at 14:01
$begingroup$
@Pipe The flattening of the earth has little to do with mountain ranges. As the flattening of earth is an effect of its rotation. - As such the atmosphere experiences a similar "flattening". Since the atmospheric density/composition influences the temperature gradient through altitude - it's easy to define mountains as elevations beyond what is expected from gravitational effects.
$endgroup$
– paul23
Mar 25 at 14:01
$begingroup$
We need to add that the standard atmosphere - while there are quite a few models - typically have increase in temperature at higher altitude. Up to the tropopause (12km) it's typically a linear reduce of temperature with altitude. In the stratosphere (20-40k altitude) the temperature actually raises(!) with altitude, up to about -10-20 degrees of sea level. (Due to the effects of ozone decay and excitation of cosmic radiation).
$endgroup$
– paul23
Mar 25 at 14:06
$begingroup$
We need to add that the standard atmosphere - while there are quite a few models - typically have increase in temperature at higher altitude. Up to the tropopause (12km) it's typically a linear reduce of temperature with altitude. In the stratosphere (20-40k altitude) the temperature actually raises(!) with altitude, up to about -10-20 degrees of sea level. (Due to the effects of ozone decay and excitation of cosmic radiation).
$endgroup$
– paul23
Mar 25 at 14:06
$begingroup$
@paul23 the temperature increases wouldn't "feel" like temperature increases though, since the significantly thinner atmosphere means that there's much less heat energy.
$endgroup$
– David Rice
Mar 25 at 15:05
$begingroup$
@paul23 the temperature increases wouldn't "feel" like temperature increases though, since the significantly thinner atmosphere means that there's much less heat energy.
$endgroup$
– David Rice
Mar 25 at 15:05
1
1
$begingroup$
@DavidRice yet also -equally- less convection/conduction. Which only leaves cooling through radiation. Which is slow. (In space you won't instantly freeze, even though the ambient temperature is only a few Kelvin)
$endgroup$
– paul23
Mar 25 at 15:18
$begingroup$
@DavidRice yet also -equally- less convection/conduction. Which only leaves cooling through radiation. Which is slow. (In space you won't instantly freeze, even though the ambient temperature is only a few Kelvin)
$endgroup$
– paul23
Mar 25 at 15:18
add a comment |
$begingroup$
You can do it with elevation.
http://www.estarte.me/world-temperatures-map.html/world-temperatures-map-file-annual-average-temperature-jpg-wikimedia-commons
Here is a map of average temperature on Earth. I have labeled the Andes and the Himalayas. They are high elevation areas and you can see they are substantially cooler than adjacent areas at the same latitude (same distance from the equator). The Himalayas are more a patch than a strip but otherwise are exactly /a region on a planet that is not near its poles that has below freezing temperatures most of the year, while having more temperate regions both above and below it/.
You could accentuate this. Make a high mountain range where you need it to be cold. It does not need to be steep mountains - it could be a high plateau. The higher it is, the colder it is.
answered Mar 23 at 20:00
WillkWillk
119k28224496
$endgroup$
19
$begingroup$
I love the "I want to build a world with X, is it possible?" "Possible? It's on every confirmed habitable planet we know of!!" questions. Sometimes the answer is right under our nose.
$endgroup$
– corsiKa
Mar 24 at 0:12
1
$begingroup$
I would add an arrow to the rockies as well they seem cooler in climate in some patches than the rest of the continental us on that map
$endgroup$
– Echo61505
Mar 24 at 15:04
9
$begingroup$
Your arrow for the Himalayas actually points to the Tibetian Plateau. I'd not normally comment this, but I still harbour resentment to a geography test on which I got 99%, and my only mistake was exactly this...
$endgroup$
– James K
Mar 24 at 21:36
$begingroup$
Interest only: Look at the nice yellowish streak going up the West side of the Bristish Isles and far to the North. This is caused by the Gulf Stream carrying warm water northwards and the Atlantic Conveyor carrying the cold water back below it for reheating. Without this I'm told that the BI would be permanently ice-locked. I'm not sure that's true but they would certainly not be the balmy sunny subtropical place they now are. Hey! Wait .. :-). Drop the UK into the Southern Ocean at correct lattitude and it lies wholly below NZ - and Invercargill is not known for its halcyon winters.
$endgroup$
– Russell McMahon
Mar 25 at 6:03
2
$begingroup$
@corsiKa: "It's on every confirmed habitable planet we know of!!" So... one?
$endgroup$
– DavidS
Mar 25 at 16:12
add a comment |
$begingroup$
You can do it with elevation.
http://www.estarte.me/world-temperatures-map.html/world-temperatures-map-file-annual-average-temperature-jpg-wikimedia-commons
Here is a map of average temperature on Earth. I have labeled the Andes and the Himalayas. They are high elevation areas and you can see they are substantially cooler than adjacent areas at the same latitude (same distance from the equator). The Himalayas are more a patch than a strip but otherwise are exactly /a region on a planet that is not near its poles that has below freezing temperatures most of the year, while having more temperate regions both above and below it/.
You could accentuate this. Make a high mountain range where you need it to be cold. It does not need to be steep mountains - it could be a high plateau. The higher it is, the colder it is.
answered Mar 23 at 20:00
WillkWillk
119k28224496
$endgroup$
19
$begingroup$
I love the "I want to build a world with X, is it possible?" "Possible? It's on every confirmed habitable planet we know of!!" questions. Sometimes the answer is right under our nose.
$endgroup$
– corsiKa
Mar 24 at 0:12
1
$begingroup$
I would add an arrow to the rockies as well they seem cooler in climate in some patches than the rest of the continental us on that map
$endgroup$
– Echo61505
Mar 24 at 15:04
9
$begingroup$
Your arrow for the Himalayas actually points to the Tibetian Plateau. I'd not normally comment this, but I still harbour resentment to a geography test on which I got 99%, and my only mistake was exactly this...
$endgroup$
– James K
Mar 24 at 21:36
$begingroup$
Interest only: Look at the nice yellowish streak going up the West side of the Bristish Isles and far to the North. This is caused by the Gulf Stream carrying warm water northwards and the Atlantic Conveyor carrying the cold water back below it for reheating. Without this I'm told that the BI would be permanently ice-locked. I'm not sure that's true but they would certainly not be the balmy sunny subtropical place they now are. Hey! Wait .. :-). Drop the UK into the Southern Ocean at correct lattitude and it lies wholly below NZ - and Invercargill is not known for its halcyon winters.
$endgroup$
– Russell McMahon
Mar 25 at 6:03
2
$begingroup$
@corsiKa: "It's on every confirmed habitable planet we know of!!" So... one?
$endgroup$
– DavidS
Mar 25 at 16:12
add a comment |
$begingroup$
You can do it with elevation.
http://www.estarte.me/world-temperatures-map.html/world-temperatures-map-file-annual-average-temperature-jpg-wikimedia-commons
Here is a map of average temperature on Earth. I have labeled the Andes and the Himalayas. They are high elevation areas and you can see they are substantially cooler than adjacent areas at the same latitude (same distance from the equator). The Himalayas are more a patch than a strip but otherwise are exactly /a region on a planet that is not near its poles that has below freezing temperatures most of the year, while having more temperate regions both above and below it/.
You could accentuate this. Make a high mountain range where you need it to be cold. It does not need to be steep mountains - it could be a high plateau. The higher it is, the colder it is.
answered Mar 23 at 20:00
WillkWillk
119k28224496
$endgroup$
You can do it with elevation.
http://www.estarte.me/world-temperatures-map.html/world-temperatures-map-file-annual-average-temperature-jpg-wikimedia-commons
Here is a map of average temperature on Earth. I have labeled the Andes and the Himalayas. They are high elevation areas and you can see they are substantially cooler than adjacent areas at the same latitude (same distance from the equator). The Himalayas are more a patch than a strip but otherwise are exactly /a region on a planet that is not near its poles that has below freezing temperatures most of the year, while having more temperate regions both above and below it/.
You could accentuate this. Make a high mountain range where you need it to be cold. It does not need to be steep mountains - it could be a high plateau. The higher it is, the colder it is.
answered Mar 23 at 20:00
WillkWillk
119k28224496
answered Mar 23 at 20:00
WillkWillk
119k28224496
answered Mar 23 at 20:00
WillkWillk
119k28224496
answered Mar 23 at 20:00
WillkWillk
119k28224496
119k28224496
19
$begingroup$
I love the "I want to build a world with X, is it possible?" "Possible? It's on every confirmed habitable planet we know of!!" questions. Sometimes the answer is right under our nose.
$endgroup$
– corsiKa
Mar 24 at 0:12
1
$begingroup$
I would add an arrow to the rockies as well they seem cooler in climate in some patches than the rest of the continental us on that map
$endgroup$
– Echo61505
Mar 24 at 15:04
9
$begingroup$
Your arrow for the Himalayas actually points to the Tibetian Plateau. I'd not normally comment this, but I still harbour resentment to a geography test on which I got 99%, and my only mistake was exactly this...
$endgroup$
– James K
Mar 24 at 21:36
$begingroup$
Interest only: Look at the nice yellowish streak going up the West side of the Bristish Isles and far to the North. This is caused by the Gulf Stream carrying warm water northwards and the Atlantic Conveyor carrying the cold water back below it for reheating. Without this I'm told that the BI would be permanently ice-locked. I'm not sure that's true but they would certainly not be the balmy sunny subtropical place they now are. Hey! Wait .. :-). Drop the UK into the Southern Ocean at correct lattitude and it lies wholly below NZ - and Invercargill is not known for its halcyon winters.
$endgroup$
– Russell McMahon
Mar 25 at 6:03
2
$begingroup$
@corsiKa: "It's on every confirmed habitable planet we know of!!" So... one?
$endgroup$
– DavidS
Mar 25 at 16:12
add a comment |
19
$begingroup$
I love the "I want to build a world with X, is it possible?" "Possible? It's on every confirmed habitable planet we know of!!" questions. Sometimes the answer is right under our nose.
$endgroup$
– corsiKa
Mar 24 at 0:12
1
$begingroup$
I would add an arrow to the rockies as well they seem cooler in climate in some patches than the rest of the continental us on that map
$endgroup$
– Echo61505
Mar 24 at 15:04
9
$begingroup$
Your arrow for the Himalayas actually points to the Tibetian Plateau. I'd not normally comment this, but I still harbour resentment to a geography test on which I got 99%, and my only mistake was exactly this...
$endgroup$
– James K
Mar 24 at 21:36
$begingroup$
Interest only: Look at the nice yellowish streak going up the West side of the Bristish Isles and far to the North. This is caused by the Gulf Stream carrying warm water northwards and the Atlantic Conveyor carrying the cold water back below it for reheating. Without this I'm told that the BI would be permanently ice-locked. I'm not sure that's true but they would certainly not be the balmy sunny subtropical place they now are. Hey! Wait .. :-). Drop the UK into the Southern Ocean at correct lattitude and it lies wholly below NZ - and Invercargill is not known for its halcyon winters.
$endgroup$
– Russell McMahon
Mar 25 at 6:03
2
$begingroup$
@corsiKa: "It's on every confirmed habitable planet we know of!!" So... one?
$endgroup$
– DavidS
Mar 25 at 16:12
19
19
$begingroup$
I love the "I want to build a world with X, is it possible?" "Possible? It's on every confirmed habitable planet we know of!!" questions. Sometimes the answer is right under our nose.
$endgroup$
– corsiKa
Mar 24 at 0:12
$begingroup$
I love the "I want to build a world with X, is it possible?" "Possible? It's on every confirmed habitable planet we know of!!" questions. Sometimes the answer is right under our nose.
$endgroup$
– corsiKa
Mar 24 at 0:12
1
1
$begingroup$
I would add an arrow to the rockies as well they seem cooler in climate in some patches than the rest of the continental us on that map
$endgroup$
– Echo61505
Mar 24 at 15:04
$begingroup$
I would add an arrow to the rockies as well they seem cooler in climate in some patches than the rest of the continental us on that map
$endgroup$
– Echo61505
Mar 24 at 15:04
9
9
$begingroup$
Your arrow for the Himalayas actually points to the Tibetian Plateau. I'd not normally comment this, but I still harbour resentment to a geography test on which I got 99%, and my only mistake was exactly this...
$endgroup$
– James K
Mar 24 at 21:36
$begingroup$
Your arrow for the Himalayas actually points to the Tibetian Plateau. I'd not normally comment this, but I still harbour resentment to a geography test on which I got 99%, and my only mistake was exactly this...
$endgroup$
– James K
Mar 24 at 21:36
$begingroup$
Interest only: Look at the nice yellowish streak going up the West side of the Bristish Isles and far to the North. This is caused by the Gulf Stream carrying warm water northwards and the Atlantic Conveyor carrying the cold water back below it for reheating. Without this I'm told that the BI would be permanently ice-locked. I'm not sure that's true but they would certainly not be the balmy sunny subtropical place they now are. Hey! Wait .. :-). Drop the UK into the Southern Ocean at correct lattitude and it lies wholly below NZ - and Invercargill is not known for its halcyon winters.
$endgroup$
– Russell McMahon
Mar 25 at 6:03
$begingroup$
Interest only: Look at the nice yellowish streak going up the West side of the Bristish Isles and far to the North. This is caused by the Gulf Stream carrying warm water northwards and the Atlantic Conveyor carrying the cold water back below it for reheating. Without this I'm told that the BI would be permanently ice-locked. I'm not sure that's true but they would certainly not be the balmy sunny subtropical place they now are. Hey! Wait .. :-). Drop the UK into the Southern Ocean at correct lattitude and it lies wholly below NZ - and Invercargill is not known for its halcyon winters.
$endgroup$
– Russell McMahon
Mar 25 at 6:03
2
2
$begingroup$
@corsiKa: "It's on every confirmed habitable planet we know of!!" So... one?
$endgroup$
– DavidS
Mar 25 at 16:12
$begingroup$
@corsiKa: "It's on every confirmed habitable planet we know of!!" So... one?
$endgroup$
– DavidS
Mar 25 at 16:12
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Yes - based on the planet's rotational axis
A cold climate (wherein "cold" is relative to what we consider "conventional life") in the "middle" (by "middle" assuming "equator" - ie, on the crust but centrally according to the longitude and latitude of it's rotational axis, and therefore not a planet's core) is most definitely possible
In fact, Uranus spins "on it's side" - at least how we think of "sides" in space. A neat youtube video off planet axis is here
Depending on it's directionality, a planet whose spin (like Uranus') is perpendicular to it's sun, the the north/south poles would be more temperate than it's equator. In other words, if you "flipped" the earth such that the equator was rotating at a different angle relative to the sun, then the poles would be more temperate with a different climate at the equator - whether hotter or colder.
answered Mar 23 at 19:38
cegfaultcegfault
1,892812
$endgroup$
6
$begingroup$
This would result in a very hot summer and very cold winter at the poles. The equator would be pleasant in the spring/fall seasons, and pretty cold during the winter/summer seasons. I don't think it's quite what you're looking for, but it would be a fascinating place to set a story.
$endgroup$
– Mark Foskey
Mar 24 at 0:13
2
$begingroup$
Actually you don't need to go for a full sideways rotation axis. 54 degrees of tilt is the magic number for the pole switch. This diagram illustrates the matter nicely. m.imgur.com/yJHPwd7
$endgroup$
– TheDyingOfLight
Mar 24 at 21:46
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Yes - based on the planet's rotational axis
A cold climate (wherein "cold" is relative to what we consider "conventional life") in the "middle" (by "middle" assuming "equator" - ie, on the crust but centrally according to the longitude and latitude of it's rotational axis, and therefore not a planet's core) is most definitely possible
In fact, Uranus spins "on it's side" - at least how we think of "sides" in space. A neat youtube video off planet axis is here
Depending on it's directionality, a planet whose spin (like Uranus') is perpendicular to it's sun, the the north/south poles would be more temperate than it's equator. In other words, if you "flipped" the earth such that the equator was rotating at a different angle relative to the sun, then the poles would be more temperate with a different climate at the equator - whether hotter or colder.
answered Mar 23 at 19:38
cegfaultcegfault
1,892812
$endgroup$
6
$begingroup$
This would result in a very hot summer and very cold winter at the poles. The equator would be pleasant in the spring/fall seasons, and pretty cold during the winter/summer seasons. I don't think it's quite what you're looking for, but it would be a fascinating place to set a story.
$endgroup$
– Mark Foskey
Mar 24 at 0:13
2
$begingroup$
Actually you don't need to go for a full sideways rotation axis. 54 degrees of tilt is the magic number for the pole switch. This diagram illustrates the matter nicely. m.imgur.com/yJHPwd7
$endgroup$
– TheDyingOfLight
Mar 24 at 21:46
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Yes - based on the planet's rotational axis
A cold climate (wherein "cold" is relative to what we consider "conventional life") in the "middle" (by "middle" assuming "equator" - ie, on the crust but centrally according to the longitude and latitude of it's rotational axis, and therefore not a planet's core) is most definitely possible
In fact, Uranus spins "on it's side" - at least how we think of "sides" in space. A neat youtube video off planet axis is here
Depending on it's directionality, a planet whose spin (like Uranus') is perpendicular to it's sun, the the north/south poles would be more temperate than it's equator. In other words, if you "flipped" the earth such that the equator was rotating at a different angle relative to the sun, then the poles would be more temperate with a different climate at the equator - whether hotter or colder.
answered Mar 23 at 19:38
cegfaultcegfault
1,892812
$endgroup$
Yes - based on the planet's rotational axis
A cold climate (wherein "cold" is relative to what we consider "conventional life") in the "middle" (by "middle" assuming "equator" - ie, on the crust but centrally according to the longitude and latitude of it's rotational axis, and therefore not a planet's core) is most definitely possible
In fact, Uranus spins "on it's side" - at least how we think of "sides" in space. A neat youtube video off planet axis is here
Depending on it's directionality, a planet whose spin (like Uranus') is perpendicular to it's sun, the the north/south poles would be more temperate than it's equator. In other words, if you "flipped" the earth such that the equator was rotating at a different angle relative to the sun, then the poles would be more temperate with a different climate at the equator - whether hotter or colder.
answered Mar 23 at 19:38
cegfaultcegfault
1,892812
answered Mar 23 at 19:38
cegfaultcegfault
1,892812
answered Mar 23 at 19:38
cegfaultcegfault
1,892812
answered Mar 23 at 19:38
cegfaultcegfault
1,892812
1,892812
6
$begingroup$
This would result in a very hot summer and very cold winter at the poles. The equator would be pleasant in the spring/fall seasons, and pretty cold during the winter/summer seasons. I don't think it's quite what you're looking for, but it would be a fascinating place to set a story.
$endgroup$
– Mark Foskey
Mar 24 at 0:13
2
$begingroup$
Actually you don't need to go for a full sideways rotation axis. 54 degrees of tilt is the magic number for the pole switch. This diagram illustrates the matter nicely. m.imgur.com/yJHPwd7
$endgroup$
– TheDyingOfLight
Mar 24 at 21:46
add a comment |
6
$begingroup$
This would result in a very hot summer and very cold winter at the poles. The equator would be pleasant in the spring/fall seasons, and pretty cold during the winter/summer seasons. I don't think it's quite what you're looking for, but it would be a fascinating place to set a story.
$endgroup$
– Mark Foskey
Mar 24 at 0:13
2
$begingroup$
Actually you don't need to go for a full sideways rotation axis. 54 degrees of tilt is the magic number for the pole switch. This diagram illustrates the matter nicely. m.imgur.com/yJHPwd7
$endgroup$
– TheDyingOfLight
Mar 24 at 21:46
6
6
$begingroup$
This would result in a very hot summer and very cold winter at the poles. The equator would be pleasant in the spring/fall seasons, and pretty cold during the winter/summer seasons. I don't think it's quite what you're looking for, but it would be a fascinating place to set a story.
$endgroup$
– Mark Foskey
Mar 24 at 0:13
$begingroup$
This would result in a very hot summer and very cold winter at the poles. The equator would be pleasant in the spring/fall seasons, and pretty cold during the winter/summer seasons. I don't think it's quite what you're looking for, but it would be a fascinating place to set a story.
$endgroup$
– Mark Foskey
Mar 24 at 0:13
2
2
$begingroup$
Actually you don't need to go for a full sideways rotation axis. 54 degrees of tilt is the magic number for the pole switch. This diagram illustrates the matter nicely. m.imgur.com/yJHPwd7
$endgroup$
– TheDyingOfLight
Mar 24 at 21:46
$begingroup$
Actually you don't need to go for a full sideways rotation axis. 54 degrees of tilt is the magic number for the pole switch. This diagram illustrates the matter nicely. m.imgur.com/yJHPwd7
$endgroup$
– TheDyingOfLight
Mar 24 at 21:46
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Imagine a world at the L5 point between a binary star system, with it's rotational axis pointing at the suns. This planet's coolest area would be the belt around the middle.
answered Mar 25 at 19:28
DAmannDAmann
312
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
Hello DAmann, welcome to the forum, please take the tour and read up in our help centre about how we work in the help center. This is the briefest first answer that I've ever upvoted, we normaly expect (demand) more elaborate explanations, but this succinctly does the job in my view.
$endgroup$
– Agrajag
Mar 25 at 19:41
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Imagine a world at the L5 point between a binary star system, with it's rotational axis pointing at the suns. This planet's coolest area would be the belt around the middle.
answered Mar 25 at 19:28
DAmannDAmann
312
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
Hello DAmann, welcome to the forum, please take the tour and read up in our help centre about how we work in the help center. This is the briefest first answer that I've ever upvoted, we normaly expect (demand) more elaborate explanations, but this succinctly does the job in my view.
$endgroup$
– Agrajag
Mar 25 at 19:41
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Imagine a world at the L5 point between a binary star system, with it's rotational axis pointing at the suns. This planet's coolest area would be the belt around the middle.
answered Mar 25 at 19:28
DAmannDAmann
312
$endgroup$
Imagine a world at the L5 point between a binary star system, with it's rotational axis pointing at the suns. This planet's coolest area would be the belt around the middle.
answered Mar 25 at 19:28
DAmannDAmann
312
answered Mar 25 at 19:28
DAmannDAmann
312
answered Mar 25 at 19:28
DAmannDAmann
312
answered Mar 25 at 19:28
DAmannDAmann
312
312
$begingroup$
Hello DAmann, welcome to the forum, please take the tour and read up in our help centre about how we work in the help center. This is the briefest first answer that I've ever upvoted, we normaly expect (demand) more elaborate explanations, but this succinctly does the job in my view.
$endgroup$
– Agrajag
Mar 25 at 19:41
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Hello DAmann, welcome to the forum, please take the tour and read up in our help centre about how we work in the help center. This is the briefest first answer that I've ever upvoted, we normaly expect (demand) more elaborate explanations, but this succinctly does the job in my view.
$endgroup$
– Agrajag
Mar 25 at 19:41
$begingroup$
Hello DAmann, welcome to the forum, please take the tour and read up in our help centre about how we work in the help center. This is the briefest first answer that I've ever upvoted, we normaly expect (demand) more elaborate explanations, but this succinctly does the job in my view.
$endgroup$
– Agrajag
Mar 25 at 19:41
$begingroup$
Hello DAmann, welcome to the forum, please take the tour and read up in our help centre about how we work in the help center. This is the briefest first answer that I've ever upvoted, we normaly expect (demand) more elaborate explanations, but this succinctly does the job in my view.
$endgroup$
– Agrajag
Mar 25 at 19:41
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Asteroid Belt
Maybe perpetual darkness via an extremely dense ring of asteroids around the planet. Because it is always dark and receives very little light (energy) it gets very very cold. Could be that this is enough to give you freezing temperatures.
How to explain an asteroid belt dense enough is another question. My suggestion would be that ice moons are orbiting the planet with a liquid cores. As they orbit the planet they get squeezed and released (tidal forces) which releases water which gets pulled very slowly towards the planet and creates this ice asteroid field which reflects the light coming in. (I think this is how they explain the rings of Saturn currently)
answered Mar 23 at 19:52
TolureTolure
1,30717
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
This would require the planet's rotary axis and orbital axis to be perfectly aligned. It also requires the belt to be extremely wide (unstable wide, top of the belt would follow a complete different orbit than the bottom) or extremely close (within atmosphere), otherwise the shade cast by the belt will be less than a few miles - which is too little to create a difference in climate, convection can easily keep everything in line.
$endgroup$
– paul23
Mar 25 at 14:09
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Asteroid Belt
Maybe perpetual darkness via an extremely dense ring of asteroids around the planet. Because it is always dark and receives very little light (energy) it gets very very cold. Could be that this is enough to give you freezing temperatures.
How to explain an asteroid belt dense enough is another question. My suggestion would be that ice moons are orbiting the planet with a liquid cores. As they orbit the planet they get squeezed and released (tidal forces) which releases water which gets pulled very slowly towards the planet and creates this ice asteroid field which reflects the light coming in. (I think this is how they explain the rings of Saturn currently)
answered Mar 23 at 19:52
TolureTolure
1,30717
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
This would require the planet's rotary axis and orbital axis to be perfectly aligned. It also requires the belt to be extremely wide (unstable wide, top of the belt would follow a complete different orbit than the bottom) or extremely close (within atmosphere), otherwise the shade cast by the belt will be less than a few miles - which is too little to create a difference in climate, convection can easily keep everything in line.
$endgroup$
– paul23
Mar 25 at 14:09
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Asteroid Belt
Maybe perpetual darkness via an extremely dense ring of asteroids around the planet. Because it is always dark and receives very little light (energy) it gets very very cold. Could be that this is enough to give you freezing temperatures.
How to explain an asteroid belt dense enough is another question. My suggestion would be that ice moons are orbiting the planet with a liquid cores. As they orbit the planet they get squeezed and released (tidal forces) which releases water which gets pulled very slowly towards the planet and creates this ice asteroid field which reflects the light coming in. (I think this is how they explain the rings of Saturn currently)
answered Mar 23 at 19:52
TolureTolure
1,30717
$endgroup$
Asteroid Belt
Maybe perpetual darkness via an extremely dense ring of asteroids around the planet. Because it is always dark and receives very little light (energy) it gets very very cold. Could be that this is enough to give you freezing temperatures.
How to explain an asteroid belt dense enough is another question. My suggestion would be that ice moons are orbiting the planet with a liquid cores. As they orbit the planet they get squeezed and released (tidal forces) which releases water which gets pulled very slowly towards the planet and creates this ice asteroid field which reflects the light coming in. (I think this is how they explain the rings of Saturn currently)
answered Mar 23 at 19:52
TolureTolure
1,30717
answered Mar 23 at 19:52
TolureTolure
1,30717
answered Mar 23 at 19:52
TolureTolure
1,30717
answered Mar 23 at 19:52
TolureTolure
1,30717
1,30717
$begingroup$
This would require the planet's rotary axis and orbital axis to be perfectly aligned. It also requires the belt to be extremely wide (unstable wide, top of the belt would follow a complete different orbit than the bottom) or extremely close (within atmosphere), otherwise the shade cast by the belt will be less than a few miles - which is too little to create a difference in climate, convection can easily keep everything in line.
$endgroup$
– paul23
Mar 25 at 14:09
add a comment |
$begingroup$
This would require the planet's rotary axis and orbital axis to be perfectly aligned. It also requires the belt to be extremely wide (unstable wide, top of the belt would follow a complete different orbit than the bottom) or extremely close (within atmosphere), otherwise the shade cast by the belt will be less than a few miles - which is too little to create a difference in climate, convection can easily keep everything in line.
$endgroup$
– paul23
Mar 25 at 14:09
$begingroup$
This would require the planet's rotary axis and orbital axis to be perfectly aligned. It also requires the belt to be extremely wide (unstable wide, top of the belt would follow a complete different orbit than the bottom) or extremely close (within atmosphere), otherwise the shade cast by the belt will be less than a few miles - which is too little to create a difference in climate, convection can easily keep everything in line.
$endgroup$
– paul23
Mar 25 at 14:09
$begingroup$
This would require the planet's rotary axis and orbital axis to be perfectly aligned. It also requires the belt to be extremely wide (unstable wide, top of the belt would follow a complete different orbit than the bottom) or extremely close (within atmosphere), otherwise the shade cast by the belt will be less than a few miles - which is too little to create a difference in climate, convection can easily keep everything in line.
$endgroup$
– paul23
Mar 25 at 14:09
add a comment |
$begingroup$
As others have mentioned, altitude would be your answer. Since that's already established, I'm going to suggest a couple ways a tall ring around the equator could be accomplished.
Planetoid Smash
In the early days of the planet forming, another planet of a similar (small) size was forming as well in the neighborhood and while they were both still semi-molten, they bumped into each and stuck together. This could have left a raised band between the formerly two planetoids as they smashed together.
How uniform or weathered this ring is is up to you.
High Spin
As we know, the Earth bulges slightly around the equator, due to it's spin. Again, before your planet fully solidified, it had an abnormally high rate of spin, causing the bulge to be more pronounced than normal with it ending up as tall as terrestrial mountains.
Whether it still has that high spin is up to you.
The high spin rate would probably have a more uniform ring, but a non-uniform ring could have valleys and holes/caves that could allow easier travel between the hemispheres.
answered Mar 24 at 0:32
computercarguycomputercarguy
2,295214
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
combine the high spin with some type of plate weakness right in the middle, creating a ring of volcanoes at the equator.
$endgroup$
– Nelson
Mar 24 at 16:08
$begingroup$
Getting rid of a high spin rate would be hard though.
$endgroup$
– Martin Bonner
Mar 25 at 16:52
$begingroup$
The spin would still need to be high, otherwise the planet would pretty quickly return to its spherical form. Besides, losing spin is really, really hard.
$endgroup$
– toolforger
Mar 25 at 19:55
add a comment |
$begingroup$
As others have mentioned, altitude would be your answer. Since that's already established, I'm going to suggest a couple ways a tall ring around the equator could be accomplished.
Planetoid Smash
In the early days of the planet forming, another planet of a similar (small) size was forming as well in the neighborhood and while they were both still semi-molten, they bumped into each and stuck together. This could have left a raised band between the formerly two planetoids as they smashed together.
How uniform or weathered this ring is is up to you.
High Spin
As we know, the Earth bulges slightly around the equator, due to it's spin. Again, before your planet fully solidified, it had an abnormally high rate of spin, causing the bulge to be more pronounced than normal with it ending up as tall as terrestrial mountains.
Whether it still has that high spin is up to you.
The high spin rate would probably have a more uniform ring, but a non-uniform ring could have valleys and holes/caves that could allow easier travel between the hemispheres.
answered Mar 24 at 0:32
computercarguycomputercarguy
2,295214
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
combine the high spin with some type of plate weakness right in the middle, creating a ring of volcanoes at the equator.
$endgroup$
– Nelson
Mar 24 at 16:08
$begingroup$
Getting rid of a high spin rate would be hard though.
$endgroup$
– Martin Bonner
Mar 25 at 16:52
$begingroup$
The spin would still need to be high, otherwise the planet would pretty quickly return to its spherical form. Besides, losing spin is really, really hard.
$endgroup$
– toolforger
Mar 25 at 19:55
add a comment |
$begingroup$
As others have mentioned, altitude would be your answer. Since that's already established, I'm going to suggest a couple ways a tall ring around the equator could be accomplished.
Planetoid Smash
In the early days of the planet forming, another planet of a similar (small) size was forming as well in the neighborhood and while they were both still semi-molten, they bumped into each and stuck together. This could have left a raised band between the formerly two planetoids as they smashed together.
How uniform or weathered this ring is is up to you.
High Spin
As we know, the Earth bulges slightly around the equator, due to it's spin. Again, before your planet fully solidified, it had an abnormally high rate of spin, causing the bulge to be more pronounced than normal with it ending up as tall as terrestrial mountains.
Whether it still has that high spin is up to you.
The high spin rate would probably have a more uniform ring, but a non-uniform ring could have valleys and holes/caves that could allow easier travel between the hemispheres.
answered Mar 24 at 0:32
computercarguycomputercarguy
2,295214
$endgroup$
As others have mentioned, altitude would be your answer. Since that's already established, I'm going to suggest a couple ways a tall ring around the equator could be accomplished.
Planetoid Smash
In the early days of the planet forming, another planet of a similar (small) size was forming as well in the neighborhood and while they were both still semi-molten, they bumped into each and stuck together. This could have left a raised band between the formerly two planetoids as they smashed together.
How uniform or weathered this ring is is up to you.
High Spin
As we know, the Earth bulges slightly around the equator, due to it's spin. Again, before your planet fully solidified, it had an abnormally high rate of spin, causing the bulge to be more pronounced than normal with it ending up as tall as terrestrial mountains.
Whether it still has that high spin is up to you.
The high spin rate would probably have a more uniform ring, but a non-uniform ring could have valleys and holes/caves that could allow easier travel between the hemispheres.
answered Mar 24 at 0:32
computercarguycomputercarguy
2,295214
answered Mar 24 at 0:32
computercarguycomputercarguy
2,295214
answered Mar 24 at 0:32
computercarguycomputercarguy
2,295214
answered Mar 24 at 0:32
computercarguycomputercarguy
2,295214
2,295214
$begingroup$
combine the high spin with some type of plate weakness right in the middle, creating a ring of volcanoes at the equator.
$endgroup$
– Nelson
Mar 24 at 16:08
$begingroup$
Getting rid of a high spin rate would be hard though.
$endgroup$
– Martin Bonner
Mar 25 at 16:52
$begingroup$
The spin would still need to be high, otherwise the planet would pretty quickly return to its spherical form. Besides, losing spin is really, really hard.
$endgroup$
– toolforger
Mar 25 at 19:55
add a comment |
$begingroup$
combine the high spin with some type of plate weakness right in the middle, creating a ring of volcanoes at the equator.
$endgroup$
– Nelson
Mar 24 at 16:08
$begingroup$
Getting rid of a high spin rate would be hard though.
$endgroup$
– Martin Bonner
Mar 25 at 16:52
$begingroup$
The spin would still need to be high, otherwise the planet would pretty quickly return to its spherical form. Besides, losing spin is really, really hard.
$endgroup$
– toolforger
Mar 25 at 19:55
$begingroup$
combine the high spin with some type of plate weakness right in the middle, creating a ring of volcanoes at the equator.
$endgroup$
– Nelson
Mar 24 at 16:08
$begingroup$
combine the high spin with some type of plate weakness right in the middle, creating a ring of volcanoes at the equator.
$endgroup$
– Nelson
Mar 24 at 16:08
$begingroup$
Getting rid of a high spin rate would be hard though.
$endgroup$
– Martin Bonner
Mar 25 at 16:52
$begingroup$
Getting rid of a high spin rate would be hard though.
$endgroup$
– Martin Bonner
Mar 25 at 16:52
$begingroup$
The spin would still need to be high, otherwise the planet would pretty quickly return to its spherical form. Besides, losing spin is really, really hard.
$endgroup$
– toolforger
Mar 25 at 19:55
$begingroup$
The spin would still need to be high, otherwise the planet would pretty quickly return to its spherical form. Besides, losing spin is really, really hard.
$endgroup$
– toolforger
Mar 25 at 19:55
add a comment |
$begingroup$
If you set the axial tilt to a certain range, the equator would become arctic and the poles would be tropical. I believe it's 45 degrees, but I could be mistaken, Artifexian's youtube video on the topic of Axial Tilt covers this if I recall correctly. (I can't check at the moment)
answered Mar 25 at 13:22
Foosic17Foosic17
38829
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
It's between 50 and 60 degrees, but yes, you can swap the climates of the equator and poles, at least in the sense of which gets more total sunlight over the course of the year.
$endgroup$
– Mark
Mar 25 at 21:50
add a comment |
$begingroup$
If you set the axial tilt to a certain range, the equator would become arctic and the poles would be tropical. I believe it's 45 degrees, but I could be mistaken, Artifexian's youtube video on the topic of Axial Tilt covers this if I recall correctly. (I can't check at the moment)
answered Mar 25 at 13:22
Foosic17Foosic17
38829
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
It's between 50 and 60 degrees, but yes, you can swap the climates of the equator and poles, at least in the sense of which gets more total sunlight over the course of the year.
$endgroup$
– Mark
Mar 25 at 21:50
add a comment |
$begingroup$
If you set the axial tilt to a certain range, the equator would become arctic and the poles would be tropical. I believe it's 45 degrees, but I could be mistaken, Artifexian's youtube video on the topic of Axial Tilt covers this if I recall correctly. (I can't check at the moment)
answered Mar 25 at 13:22
Foosic17Foosic17
38829
$endgroup$
If you set the axial tilt to a certain range, the equator would become arctic and the poles would be tropical. I believe it's 45 degrees, but I could be mistaken, Artifexian's youtube video on the topic of Axial Tilt covers this if I recall correctly. (I can't check at the moment)
answered Mar 25 at 13:22
Foosic17Foosic17
38829
answered Mar 25 at 13:22
Foosic17Foosic17
38829
answered Mar 25 at 13:22
Foosic17Foosic17
38829
answered Mar 25 at 13:22
Foosic17Foosic17
38829
38829
$begingroup$
It's between 50 and 60 degrees, but yes, you can swap the climates of the equator and poles, at least in the sense of which gets more total sunlight over the course of the year.
$endgroup$
– Mark
Mar 25 at 21:50
add a comment |
$begingroup$
It's between 50 and 60 degrees, but yes, you can swap the climates of the equator and poles, at least in the sense of which gets more total sunlight over the course of the year.
$endgroup$
– Mark
Mar 25 at 21:50
$begingroup$
It's between 50 and 60 degrees, but yes, you can swap the climates of the equator and poles, at least in the sense of which gets more total sunlight over the course of the year.
$endgroup$
– Mark
Mar 25 at 21:50
$begingroup$
It's between 50 and 60 degrees, but yes, you can swap the climates of the equator and poles, at least in the sense of which gets more total sunlight over the course of the year.
$endgroup$
– Mark
Mar 25 at 21:50
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Your planet is an odd one: It has no axial tilt and no seasons.
In old days, in the time of magicians, they wrought the Bridge of the World to feed their lust for power. Six great towers to the sky were created (beanstalks) and they became the pylons for the Bridge.
Ok, ok.
6 beanstalks. From there, you build a ring city around the earth over the equator. This city could easily expand to be quite wide -- 20-100 miles which would create a permanent shadow band along the equator.
It would much like the temperature drop that comes with a solar eclipse, but it would keep going. At some point the temperature is balanced by cold air settling and rushing out from the Shadow Lands, and warm air rushing in. I don't know how effective the circulation would be.
answered Mar 25 at 5:12
Sherwood BotsfordSherwood Botsford
7,173733
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
Mmmyyes, but the question is science-based.
$endgroup$
– Wilson
Mar 25 at 11:42
$begingroup$
So the cause is leftover technology.
$endgroup$
– Sherwood Botsford
Mar 26 at 0:01
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Your planet is an odd one: It has no axial tilt and no seasons.
In old days, in the time of magicians, they wrought the Bridge of the World to feed their lust for power. Six great towers to the sky were created (beanstalks) and they became the pylons for the Bridge.
Ok, ok.
6 beanstalks. From there, you build a ring city around the earth over the equator. This city could easily expand to be quite wide -- 20-100 miles which would create a permanent shadow band along the equator.
It would much like the temperature drop that comes with a solar eclipse, but it would keep going. At some point the temperature is balanced by cold air settling and rushing out from the Shadow Lands, and warm air rushing in. I don't know how effective the circulation would be.
answered Mar 25 at 5:12
Sherwood BotsfordSherwood Botsford
7,173733
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
Mmmyyes, but the question is science-based.
$endgroup$
– Wilson
Mar 25 at 11:42
$begingroup$
So the cause is leftover technology.
$endgroup$
– Sherwood Botsford
Mar 26 at 0:01
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Your planet is an odd one: It has no axial tilt and no seasons.
In old days, in the time of magicians, they wrought the Bridge of the World to feed their lust for power. Six great towers to the sky were created (beanstalks) and they became the pylons for the Bridge.
Ok, ok.
6 beanstalks. From there, you build a ring city around the earth over the equator. This city could easily expand to be quite wide -- 20-100 miles which would create a permanent shadow band along the equator.
It would much like the temperature drop that comes with a solar eclipse, but it would keep going. At some point the temperature is balanced by cold air settling and rushing out from the Shadow Lands, and warm air rushing in. I don't know how effective the circulation would be.
answered Mar 25 at 5:12
Sherwood BotsfordSherwood Botsford
7,173733
$endgroup$
Your planet is an odd one: It has no axial tilt and no seasons.
In old days, in the time of magicians, they wrought the Bridge of the World to feed their lust for power. Six great towers to the sky were created (beanstalks) and they became the pylons for the Bridge.
Ok, ok.
6 beanstalks. From there, you build a ring city around the earth over the equator. This city could easily expand to be quite wide -- 20-100 miles which would create a permanent shadow band along the equator.
It would much like the temperature drop that comes with a solar eclipse, but it would keep going. At some point the temperature is balanced by cold air settling and rushing out from the Shadow Lands, and warm air rushing in. I don't know how effective the circulation would be.
answered Mar 25 at 5:12
Sherwood BotsfordSherwood Botsford
7,173733
answered Mar 25 at 5:12
Sherwood BotsfordSherwood Botsford
7,173733
answered Mar 25 at 5:12
Sherwood BotsfordSherwood Botsford
7,173733
answered Mar 25 at 5:12
Sherwood BotsfordSherwood Botsford
7,173733
7,173733
$begingroup$
Mmmyyes, but the question is science-based.
$endgroup$
– Wilson
Mar 25 at 11:42
$begingroup$
So the cause is leftover technology.
$endgroup$
– Sherwood Botsford
Mar 26 at 0:01
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Mmmyyes, but the question is science-based.
$endgroup$
– Wilson
Mar 25 at 11:42
$begingroup$
So the cause is leftover technology.
$endgroup$
– Sherwood Botsford
Mar 26 at 0:01
$begingroup$
Mmmyyes, but the question is science-based.
$endgroup$
– Wilson
Mar 25 at 11:42
$begingroup$
Mmmyyes, but the question is science-based.
$endgroup$
– Wilson
Mar 25 at 11:42
$begingroup$
So the cause is leftover technology.
$endgroup$
– Sherwood Botsford
Mar 26 at 0:01
$begingroup$
So the cause is leftover technology.
$endgroup$
– Sherwood Botsford
Mar 26 at 0:01
add a comment |
$begingroup$
For an inverse real world effect look on Willk's global temperature map at the nice warm (yellowish) streak going up the West side of the Bristish Isles and far to the North.
This is caused by the Gulf Stream carrying warm water northwards and the Atlantic Conveyor carrying the cold water back below it for reheating.
Without this I'm told that the British Isles would be permanently ice-locked. I'm not sure that's true but they would certainly not be the balmy sunny subtropical place they now are. Hey! Wait .. :-). Drop the British Isles into the Southern Ocean at correct latitude and it lies wholly below NZ (bottom right on the map) - and Invercargill, at the bottom of NZ, is not known for its halcyon winters.
answered Mar 25 at 6:09
Russell McMahonRussell McMahon
41126
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
I don't think we'd be ice-locked, but if you consider that Edinburgh is roughly on the same line of latitude as Moscow, I think even the Scots might start to complain about the weather!
$endgroup$
– neophlegm
Mar 25 at 10:20
$begingroup$
@neophlegm Yes. As noted, I would not have deduced the ice-locked condition by looking at the overall picture. However - look at the above temperature map and note that the gulf stream warming appears to warm the whole of Scandinavia plus the West side of Russia - so even Moscow benefits from the warming!. - Coastal temperatures elsewhere are also much affected by wider geography. I've shivered in Chinese factories with snow on the ground in Qingdao (on the coast), at a lattitide that in coastal Australia at the same latitude would have seen a cold day but never ever snow.
$endgroup$
– Russell McMahon
Mar 26 at 4:00
add a comment |
$begingroup$
For an inverse real world effect look on Willk's global temperature map at the nice warm (yellowish) streak going up the West side of the Bristish Isles and far to the North.
This is caused by the Gulf Stream carrying warm water northwards and the Atlantic Conveyor carrying the cold water back below it for reheating.
Without this I'm told that the British Isles would be permanently ice-locked. I'm not sure that's true but they would certainly not be the balmy sunny subtropical place they now are. Hey! Wait .. :-). Drop the British Isles into the Southern Ocean at correct latitude and it lies wholly below NZ (bottom right on the map) - and Invercargill, at the bottom of NZ, is not known for its halcyon winters.
answered Mar 25 at 6:09
Russell McMahonRussell McMahon
41126
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
I don't think we'd be ice-locked, but if you consider that Edinburgh is roughly on the same line of latitude as Moscow, I think even the Scots might start to complain about the weather!
$endgroup$
– neophlegm
Mar 25 at 10:20
$begingroup$
@neophlegm Yes. As noted, I would not have deduced the ice-locked condition by looking at the overall picture. However - look at the above temperature map and note that the gulf stream warming appears to warm the whole of Scandinavia plus the West side of Russia - so even Moscow benefits from the warming!. - Coastal temperatures elsewhere are also much affected by wider geography. I've shivered in Chinese factories with snow on the ground in Qingdao (on the coast), at a lattitide that in coastal Australia at the same latitude would have seen a cold day but never ever snow.
$endgroup$
– Russell McMahon
Mar 26 at 4:00
add a comment |
$begingroup$
For an inverse real world effect look on Willk's global temperature map at the nice warm (yellowish) streak going up the West side of the Bristish Isles and far to the North.
This is caused by the Gulf Stream carrying warm water northwards and the Atlantic Conveyor carrying the cold water back below it for reheating.
Without this I'm told that the British Isles would be permanently ice-locked. I'm not sure that's true but they would certainly not be the balmy sunny subtropical place they now are. Hey! Wait .. :-). Drop the British Isles into the Southern Ocean at correct latitude and it lies wholly below NZ (bottom right on the map) - and Invercargill, at the bottom of NZ, is not known for its halcyon winters.
answered Mar 25 at 6:09
Russell McMahonRussell McMahon
41126
$endgroup$
For an inverse real world effect look on Willk's global temperature map at the nice warm (yellowish) streak going up the West side of the Bristish Isles and far to the North.
This is caused by the Gulf Stream carrying warm water northwards and the Atlantic Conveyor carrying the cold water back below it for reheating.
Without this I'm told that the British Isles would be permanently ice-locked. I'm not sure that's true but they would certainly not be the balmy sunny subtropical place they now are. Hey! Wait .. :-). Drop the British Isles into the Southern Ocean at correct latitude and it lies wholly below NZ (bottom right on the map) - and Invercargill, at the bottom of NZ, is not known for its halcyon winters.
answered Mar 25 at 6:09
Russell McMahonRussell McMahon
41126
answered Mar 25 at 6:09
Russell McMahonRussell McMahon
41126
answered Mar 25 at 6:09
Russell McMahonRussell McMahon
41126
answered Mar 25 at 6:09
Russell McMahonRussell McMahon
41126
41126
$begingroup$
I don't think we'd be ice-locked, but if you consider that Edinburgh is roughly on the same line of latitude as Moscow, I think even the Scots might start to complain about the weather!
$endgroup$
– neophlegm
Mar 25 at 10:20
$begingroup$
@neophlegm Yes. As noted, I would not have deduced the ice-locked condition by looking at the overall picture. However - look at the above temperature map and note that the gulf stream warming appears to warm the whole of Scandinavia plus the West side of Russia - so even Moscow benefits from the warming!. - Coastal temperatures elsewhere are also much affected by wider geography. I've shivered in Chinese factories with snow on the ground in Qingdao (on the coast), at a lattitide that in coastal Australia at the same latitude would have seen a cold day but never ever snow.
$endgroup$
– Russell McMahon
Mar 26 at 4:00
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I don't think we'd be ice-locked, but if you consider that Edinburgh is roughly on the same line of latitude as Moscow, I think even the Scots might start to complain about the weather!
$endgroup$
– neophlegm
Mar 25 at 10:20
$begingroup$
@neophlegm Yes. As noted, I would not have deduced the ice-locked condition by looking at the overall picture. However - look at the above temperature map and note that the gulf stream warming appears to warm the whole of Scandinavia plus the West side of Russia - so even Moscow benefits from the warming!. - Coastal temperatures elsewhere are also much affected by wider geography. I've shivered in Chinese factories with snow on the ground in Qingdao (on the coast), at a lattitide that in coastal Australia at the same latitude would have seen a cold day but never ever snow.
$endgroup$
– Russell McMahon
Mar 26 at 4:00
$begingroup$
I don't think we'd be ice-locked, but if you consider that Edinburgh is roughly on the same line of latitude as Moscow, I think even the Scots might start to complain about the weather!
$endgroup$
– neophlegm
Mar 25 at 10:20
$begingroup$
I don't think we'd be ice-locked, but if you consider that Edinburgh is roughly on the same line of latitude as Moscow, I think even the Scots might start to complain about the weather!
$endgroup$
– neophlegm
Mar 25 at 10:20
$begingroup$
@neophlegm Yes. As noted, I would not have deduced the ice-locked condition by looking at the overall picture. However - look at the above temperature map and note that the gulf stream warming appears to warm the whole of Scandinavia plus the West side of Russia - so even Moscow benefits from the warming!. - Coastal temperatures elsewhere are also much affected by wider geography. I've shivered in Chinese factories with snow on the ground in Qingdao (on the coast), at a lattitide that in coastal Australia at the same latitude would have seen a cold day but never ever snow.
$endgroup$
– Russell McMahon
Mar 26 at 4:00
$begingroup$
@neophlegm Yes. As noted, I would not have deduced the ice-locked condition by looking at the overall picture. However - look at the above temperature map and note that the gulf stream warming appears to warm the whole of Scandinavia plus the West side of Russia - so even Moscow benefits from the warming!. - Coastal temperatures elsewhere are also much affected by wider geography. I've shivered in Chinese factories with snow on the ground in Qingdao (on the coast), at a lattitide that in coastal Australia at the same latitude would have seen a cold day but never ever snow.
$endgroup$
– Russell McMahon
Mar 26 at 4:00
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Volcanic Fallout
The prevailing surface winds at the equator are due west (balanced by high level jet streams off the equator blowing due east.) With active volcano(s) at the equator, the fallout would be carried due west and under the right circumstances might create a band of cool at the surface.
The largest volcanic eruption on Earth in the last 800 years was https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Tambora (indonesia, 8 degrees south of the equator.)
This certainly had climatic influence, though perhaps not as local as you are looking for. Sulfuric acid in the atmosphere from the eruption, with max intensity in April 1815 reduced the amount of sunlight reaching the earth's surface. This caused "the year without a summer" as far away as Europe and North America in the following year 1816, resulting in a 3C temperature drop in France and the worst famine of the century. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer
Peak annual temperatures on earth are not highest at the equator
It's also worth noting that peak (as opposed to average) annual temperatures are highest a little off the equator. For example in Africa peak temperatures occur not at the equator but in the deserts of the Sahara and southern Africa.
answered Mar 25 at 13:25
Level River StLevel River St
1,971614
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Volcanic Fallout
The prevailing surface winds at the equator are due west (balanced by high level jet streams off the equator blowing due east.) With active volcano(s) at the equator, the fallout would be carried due west and under the right circumstances might create a band of cool at the surface.
The largest volcanic eruption on Earth in the last 800 years was https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Tambora (indonesia, 8 degrees south of the equator.)
This certainly had climatic influence, though perhaps not as local as you are looking for. Sulfuric acid in the atmosphere from the eruption, with max intensity in April 1815 reduced the amount of sunlight reaching the earth's surface. This caused "the year without a summer" as far away as Europe and North America in the following year 1816, resulting in a 3C temperature drop in France and the worst famine of the century. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer
Peak annual temperatures on earth are not highest at the equator
It's also worth noting that peak (as opposed to average) annual temperatures are highest a little off the equator. For example in Africa peak temperatures occur not at the equator but in the deserts of the Sahara and southern Africa.
answered Mar 25 at 13:25
Level River StLevel River St
1,971614
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Volcanic Fallout
The prevailing surface winds at the equator are due west (balanced by high level jet streams off the equator blowing due east.) With active volcano(s) at the equator, the fallout would be carried due west and under the right circumstances might create a band of cool at the surface.
The largest volcanic eruption on Earth in the last 800 years was https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Tambora (indonesia, 8 degrees south of the equator.)
This certainly had climatic influence, though perhaps not as local as you are looking for. Sulfuric acid in the atmosphere from the eruption, with max intensity in April 1815 reduced the amount of sunlight reaching the earth's surface. This caused "the year without a summer" as far away as Europe and North America in the following year 1816, resulting in a 3C temperature drop in France and the worst famine of the century. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer
Peak annual temperatures on earth are not highest at the equator
It's also worth noting that peak (as opposed to average) annual temperatures are highest a little off the equator. For example in Africa peak temperatures occur not at the equator but in the deserts of the Sahara and southern Africa.
answered Mar 25 at 13:25
Level River StLevel River St
1,971614
$endgroup$
Volcanic Fallout
The prevailing surface winds at the equator are due west (balanced by high level jet streams off the equator blowing due east.) With active volcano(s) at the equator, the fallout would be carried due west and under the right circumstances might create a band of cool at the surface.
The largest volcanic eruption on Earth in the last 800 years was https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Tambora (indonesia, 8 degrees south of the equator.)
This certainly had climatic influence, though perhaps not as local as you are looking for. Sulfuric acid in the atmosphere from the eruption, with max intensity in April 1815 reduced the amount of sunlight reaching the earth's surface. This caused "the year without a summer" as far away as Europe and North America in the following year 1816, resulting in a 3C temperature drop in France and the worst famine of the century. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer
Peak annual temperatures on earth are not highest at the equator
It's also worth noting that peak (as opposed to average) annual temperatures are highest a little off the equator. For example in Africa peak temperatures occur not at the equator but in the deserts of the Sahara and southern Africa.
answered Mar 25 at 13:25
Level River StLevel River St
1,971614
edited Mar 25 at 13:58
answered Mar 25 at 13:25
Level River StLevel River St
1,971614
answered Mar 25 at 13:25
Level River StLevel River St
1,971614
answered Mar 25 at 13:25
Level River StLevel River St
1,971614
1,971614
add a comment |
add a comment |
$begingroup$
As @Willk pointed out, you just need altitude.
Now the question is: How do you get that altitude in a band around the equator.
You could figure that with plate tectonics moving things around, for a brief time (in a geological sense), mountain range could line up on or near the equator.
Another, more believable, solution is to have a super earth with a high rate of spin. This planet will tend to bulge out at the equator. If the bulge is significant enough, it will get large enough for there to be a difference in the perceived gravity between the pole and the equator. This would allow mountains to grow higher on the equator. Look at Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement as an extreme example of this type of world.
answered Mar 25 at 21:27
ShadoCatShadoCat
15.6k2054
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
As @Willk pointed out, you just need altitude.
Now the question is: How do you get that altitude in a band around the equator.
You could figure that with plate tectonics moving things around, for a brief time (in a geological sense), mountain range could line up on or near the equator.
Another, more believable, solution is to have a super earth with a high rate of spin. This planet will tend to bulge out at the equator. If the bulge is significant enough, it will get large enough for there to be a difference in the perceived gravity between the pole and the equator. This would allow mountains to grow higher on the equator. Look at Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement as an extreme example of this type of world.
answered Mar 25 at 21:27
ShadoCatShadoCat
15.6k2054
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
As @Willk pointed out, you just need altitude.
Now the question is: How do you get that altitude in a band around the equator.
You could figure that with plate tectonics moving things around, for a brief time (in a geological sense), mountain range could line up on or near the equator.
Another, more believable, solution is to have a super earth with a high rate of spin. This planet will tend to bulge out at the equator. If the bulge is significant enough, it will get large enough for there to be a difference in the perceived gravity between the pole and the equator. This would allow mountains to grow higher on the equator. Look at Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement as an extreme example of this type of world.
answered Mar 25 at 21:27
ShadoCatShadoCat
15.6k2054
$endgroup$
As @Willk pointed out, you just need altitude.
Now the question is: How do you get that altitude in a band around the equator.
You could figure that with plate tectonics moving things around, for a brief time (in a geological sense), mountain range could line up on or near the equator.
Another, more believable, solution is to have a super earth with a high rate of spin. This planet will tend to bulge out at the equator. If the bulge is significant enough, it will get large enough for there to be a difference in the perceived gravity between the pole and the equator. This would allow mountains to grow higher on the equator. Look at Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement as an extreme example of this type of world.
answered Mar 25 at 21:27
ShadoCatShadoCat
15.6k2054
answered Mar 25 at 21:27
ShadoCatShadoCat
15.6k2054
answered Mar 25 at 21:27
ShadoCatShadoCat
15.6k2054
answered Mar 25 at 21:27
ShadoCatShadoCat
15.6k2054
15.6k2054
add a comment |
add a comment |
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41
$begingroup$
Mountains ? Altitude is your friend
$endgroup$
– Raditz_35
Mar 23 at 19:16
$begingroup$
On Earth sometimes cold air from the poles goes all the way to the equator and past it through some corridors. That's common in Brazil, but it's not constant.
$endgroup$
– Renan
Mar 23 at 19:30
$begingroup$
How big you want that region to be? How "normal" it has to be?
$endgroup$
– Artemijs Danilovs
Mar 23 at 19:37
5
$begingroup$
What's wrong with Tibet?
$endgroup$
– AlexP
Mar 23 at 20:19
1
$begingroup$
as an alternative to mountains, would debris belt of some kind work? you have a fairly thick ring blocking most of the sun. this is of course a pretty fantastical alternatives to simply having a mountain range
$endgroup$
– Nullman
Mar 25 at 8:48