this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2023
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[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Does anyone know what the reason for this is?

[–] BertusVulgaris 50 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

The earth spins faster at the equator, which is the reason for the rotation of hurricanes. They spin counter clockwise north of the equator and clockwise south of it.

https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/coriolis-effect/

Edit: The reason they don't cross is not because of the Coriolis effect working against the original rotation direction if a hurricane crosses the equator, but rather because the storms are moving away from the equator

https://www.soest.hawaii.edu/GG/ASK/hurricanes.html

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

Thank you for the links! I learned new things today.

[–] [email protected] 48 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Apparently,

Because of things like Coriolis effect and convective currents, there just aren’t winds that blow across the equator, not at the scale that would blow a hurricane from one hemisphere to the other anyway.

Winds tend to blow along and away from the equator, not across it.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

It's the same (but even more dramatic) with Jupiter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHwkdcppsuo

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago

Are those Calm Belts without hurricanes the reason it's so difficult to enter the Grand Line?

[–] eslaf 12 points 1 year ago

The Grand Line!

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

This map is a great illustration of why the "ty" of typhoon is from the "Tai" of Taiwan in the original meaning of the word.

Bonus fun fact - "hurricane" is from a native Caribbean word, from the same language family as another loanword "hammock".

[–] FlickOfTheBean 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This sounds interesting as heck, what do you mean this map is a great illustration of the original meaning of the word?

For some reason I thought the word typhoon popped into vernacular around the 1940s, but I think that story might be made up now that I'm older and thinking about it.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

It's from 台风 (sounds like typhon, more than it sound like typhoon tbh) and tbh the "ty" part might just be from "dai" meaning "big", so just "big wind", but I've heard it's just as likely to be "wind from Taiwan", the same 台 ty as in 台風, Taiwan.

And yeah, this map proves that Taiwan (and northern Philippines) is the world capital of strong typhoons.

[–] FlickOfTheBean 5 points 1 year ago

That's cool as heck! Thanks for the info!

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Why are there none near South America?

[–] MooseBoys 22 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Retrograde 4 points 1 year ago

Damn racist hurricanes. They should be destroying people of all countries and creeds

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

Hurricanes aren't indigenous to south america, but if they spread there they will have no natrual predators and become extremely invasive

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

The Andes are so tall, they slow the winds. (My guess. I am not a geographer)

[–] PunnyName 10 points 1 year ago
[–] Nfntordr 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The equator: The place to be

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Give it a few more years...

[–] lemming007 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What, the Earth will stop rotating? You do realize Earth rotation is the reason hurricanes don't cross the equator?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

What? Where did I say that? Everyone knows that the equator region will become inhospitable in a few years because of the combination of high temperature and high humidity. Certainly not "the place to be".

[–] lemming007 -3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Everyone knows will become inhospitable in a few years

Ok, buddy. Remind me in a few years. I'll move to the equator and you can move to Antarctica, we'll see who fares better.

The schools really are brainwashing the kids these days...

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Is it just me or does this world map look off?

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago

Most map projections dramatically underestimate the size of the Pacific Ocean:

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/point-nemo

We're just not used to seeing this half of the planet depicted, and the Pacific IS almost half of the entire planet.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

It is centered on the Pacific Ocean, which is a bit unusual indeed

[–] FlickOfTheBean 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This probably isn't what happened to you, but my brain assumed the dark areas were the land masses for a good long while until I realized why it looked like a nonsense map lol

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

That happened to me too! Was fighting my brain to remember water blue

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Looks pretty typical for an Aussie. Pacific in the middle.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

God bless em they still keep trying

[–] CetaceanNeeded 2 points 1 year ago

Fuck Australia and Asia I guess

[–] sumofchemicals 1 points 1 year ago

With today's technology and know how, nothing is beyond our reach