Good morning! It's 7 o'clock on Friday, December 31, the last day of this year, 2010. I just had breakfast and, while I was finishing my orange juice, I hopped on the computer to wish a Happy New Year to my brother Mark who is working in Antarctica. Because right this minute, while I'm still in slippers having my Friday breakfast, Mark has already started his new day - Saturday, January 1, 2011. It's already tomorrow and it's already the new year where he is! Isn't that odd? It's because my brother Mark is in a different time zone.
Time zones are man-made technology. Back in the old (old!) days, people measured time by noticing where the sun was: it appeared in the morning, it was overhead at noon, and it set in the evening. But then clocks were invented to tell time and that created a real problem. How could the sun be overhead at 12 o'clock noon in places like New Hampton, California, Africa, Japan - all at the same time? It can't, because the our Big Blue Ball turns in space and the sun is overhead in different parts of the world at different times. So someone invented time zones so that it's 12 o'clock noon in whatever places on Earth the sun is overhead. And, because there are 24 hours in the day, there are 24 time zones on Earth - and 24 noontimes! That also means there are 24 midnights - which is why my brother Mark has already had his midnight and it's already tomorrow, January 1st!
This is pretty good technology but it can also be confusing. Here's a short video that tells about time zones. And click here for a world clock that will show you what time it is where you live and in other parts of the world.
So Happy New Year to all you kids in New Hampton - in about 17 hours!
 |
My brother in Antarctica- that's a sleeping seal on the ice behind him! |
No comments:
Post a Comment