[NatureNS] Midnight sun?

Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2007 21:02:57 -0300
From: Joanne Cook <jocook@hfx.eastlink.ca>
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
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On 21-Mar-07, at 20:31 PM, Andy Moir/Chris Callaghan wrote:

> This morning on CBC radio, they talked with a person who lives way  
> up north. (I didn't catch the location, but they said it was the  
> most northerly year-round settlement in Canada).  The question they  
> were asking was about what Spring means to various parts of the  
> country.  One thing he said is that as of April 1st, his community  
> will have sunlight 24 hours a day ... I tried, unsuccessfully, to  
> find a webpage that would explain to me why there would be 24 hours  
> of light that far north at this time of year, when we're in  
> darkness by 8 pm

The most northerly permanently inhabited place in Canada is Alert, at  
the very north-eastern tip of Ellesmere Island, at 82° 28' N 62° 30'W.

That's *way* up there. Check out the wikipedia article on Alert --  
"There is 24-hour daylight from the last week of March until the  
middle of September and the sun is above the horizon from mid-April  
through August. From mid-October through the end of February the sun  
does not rise above the horizon and there is 24-hour darkness.":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alert%2C_Nunavut , or look at this:

http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/71082.html

for today -- civil twilight's already 3:38 AM ADT, 11:12 PM AD.

In terms of the explanation, it's simply, I think, because it's SO  
far north, almost as much farther north from us as we are from the  
equator, at 44° north. At the equator, remember, day and night are  
the same length all year round. That's something I've never gotten  
used to when visiting the tropics -- I keep thinking that warm days =  
long days, not darkness by 6:00 pm!

cheers,
Joanne

__________________________________

Joanne Cook (mailto:forests2@ecologyaction.ca)
Coordinator, Standing Tall Campaign for Environmentally Responsible  
Forestry,
Ecology Action Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
902.429.1335 (voice); 902.422.6410 (fax).
http://www.novascotiaforests.ca & http://www.ecologyaction.ca

* Do not meddle with the Forces of Nature, for you are small,  
insignificant, and biodegradable. *


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