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(Last Updated On: March 17, 2023) Spring begins on the March or vernal equinox, which is when the amount of sunshine is approximately 12 hours long. The amount of sunlight will incrementally increase until the first day of Summer. #SpringBegins The vernal equinox marks the moment the sun crosses the celestial equator. This is the imaginary line in the sky above the Earth’s equator, from south to north. The vernal equinox happens on March 19, 20, or 21 every year in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, this same event marks the beginning of fall. Meteorologists mark the spring...

In “Bridgerton,” the new Shonda Rhimes period drama on Netflix, the lords and ladies of early 19th century Britain are depicted as Black as well as White. Why? Washington Post television critic Hank Stuever explains it this way: “A Black character stops to explain, grandly, how and why this society came to be integrated. (Answer: because the queen is a person of color.) Not only does it not make much sense, but it seems like an unnecessary wrench thrown into a completely sensible and revisionary romp: People of color are here because they should have been here all along. Isn’t...

The Autumnal Equinox is observed annually when the sun can be seen directly overhead along the equator, marking the end of summer and beginning of fall in the Northern Hemisphere. The autumn equinox is one of two days when all points on Earth except the polar regions see the sun rise and set at due east and due west. With few exceptions, all latitudes see almost exactly 12 hours of daylight and 12 of darkness.

The two bloggers who have perpetuated this misinformation are Robert Scribbler, who describes himself as ” a progressive novelist, non-fiction writer and emerging threats expert,” and Paul Beckwith, who is working on a PhD with “a focus on abrupt climate system change” at the University of Ottawa. Scribbler says the cross-equator flow is a manifestation of man-made global warming, supported by the hypothesis that disproportionate heating of the Arctic is destabilizing the jet stream. “The Hemispherical Jet Streams have moved out of the Middle Latitudes more and more,” he writes. “More and more it has invaded regions both within the...

Are equator bears in danger of extinction, just like their cousins, the polar bears?

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says he backs immigration reform, announcing last month an initiative to ease deportation policies, but he has sent home more than 1 million illegal immigrants in 2 1/2 years — on pace to deport more in one term than George W. Bush did in two. The Obama administration had deported about 1.06 million as of Sept. 12, against 1.57 million in Bush's two full presidential terms. This seeming contradiction between rhetoric and reality is a key element of debate over U.S. immigration policy, and stakes are high for 2012's presidential election as Obama faces criticism...

Mexico City - Mexico plans to begin construction this year on a space port to send satellites aloft, an official said Monday. The facility will be located in the southern state of Quintana Roo on the border with Belize, said state planning minister Jose Alberto Alonso Ovando. The location was chosen after extensive studies in part because of its proximity to the Equator, he said in an interview. Late last year, the Mexican National Congress approved the founding of a national space agency, Aexa. The agency's headquarters will be located in the state of Hidalgo from where it will oversee...

Fabled equatorial icecaps will disappear within two decades, because of global warming, a study British and Ugandan scientists has found. In a paper to be published 17 May in Geophysical Research Letters, they report results from the first survey in a decade of glaciers in the Rwenzori Mountains of East Africa. An increase in air temperature over the last four decades has contributed to a substantial reduction in glacial cover, they say. The Rwenzori Mountains--also known as the Mountains of the Moon--straddle the border between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Uganda. They are home to one...

Earth's equator is sometimes viewed as a bit of a virtual wall that separates the climates of the northern and southern hemispheres. Ocean currents, the main driver of climate, tend to confine themselves to one side or the other. When waters from North and South meet at the equator, they combine lazily and create an utter lack of wind known as the doldrums. But a new study finds the climates in each half of the planet are linked by the oceans over the long run. Ocean circulation in the Southern Hemisphere has in the past adapted to sudden changes in...

Communism's Resurgence By William F. Jasper The New American, January 24, 2005 Communism is not dead in Latin America. In fact, the dominoes are falling south of the border, but no one seems to be noticing. "It's a new day. Communism is dead. It's even dead in Cuba." So declared Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing in May 2002. "I hate to say it," she continued, "it's dead." The senator's proclamation was a surprise, no doubt, to Fidel Castro, whose regime was (and is) alive and as Red as ever. It also must have come as...

A giant ridge girdles Saturn's satellite Iapetus - making the moon look like a walnut shell - reveal the latest images from the Cassini-Huygens mission. Scientists are at a loss to explain the feature, which is unique in the solar system. The Cassini spacecraft flew past Iapetus on New Year's Day, approaching to within 123,400 kilometres of the moon's surface. Its camera captured the most detailed images of Iapetus yet, revealing wisps of dark material and two-tone craters. But the ridge is the greatest surprise to scientists. It extends for at least 1300 km, following the equator exactly. In...

Caribbean Santa Faints Near the Equator Mon Dec 8, 8:21 PM ET GEORGETOWN, Guyana - A Caribbean Santa fainted under a blazing sun while distributing candy to a swarm of children on a stage in a remote mining town near the equator. Santa Claus panicked when more than 100 children stormed the stage Saturday to scoop up the sweets in the bauxite mining town of Linden, 70 miles (113 kilometers) south of Georgetown, police said. Wearing a traditional winter Santa suit in this South American country, Santa buckled under the more than 80-degree Fahrenheit (27-degree Celsius) heat and slumped to...

HEAT WAVE: AFRICAN TROPICAL MONSOON IS SUFFOCATING EUROPE, SAYS CNR (AGI) - Rome, Italy, Aug. 6 - The unbearable heat wave that is hitting Italy and much of Europe is closely tied to the particular intensity of the African tropical monsoon season. "Heavy storms in sub-Saharan Africa cause a decrease in rains and intense heat in the Mediterranean, and in particular on the northern coasts. In other words, it's as if the desert climate were suddenly shifted towards us," said Giampiero Maracchi, director of the IBIMET-CNR. Since the end of June, the quantity of rain in sub-Saharan Africa has...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 November 15 Night Trails of Africa Credit & Copyright: LeRoy Zimmerman Explanation: Spanning southern to northern skies, stars trail across this panoramic view of the African night from equatorial Kenya. The three hour long exposure was made on a clear, dark, mid November evening facing due west and covers just over 180 degrees along the horizon. So, the South Celestial Pole is at the center of the...