Why are the areas near the equator hot?

Answer 1

Countries near the equator are warmer because the land receives and retains more sunlight than countries closer to the poles of the planet. The equator receives sunlight from directly overhead. This means that if the sun throws (for example) 10 sunrays per square foot to a tropical place, a square foot on the ground will get the full 10 sunrays. Not only that, but some sunrays will bounce straight back up, hit the top of the atmosphere and bounce straight back down to the same place again. These sunrays contain both light and heat which make for a pretty hot place. Now lets go to New York, where the sun is not directly overhead in the summer. The sun throws the same 10 sunrays per foot at an angle toward us, but since it's at an angle the 10 sunrays are more spread out when they hit the ground. So now you have 10 sunrays hitting New York every 1 and a half or 2 feet. That's less light and less heat. Also, the bounce is at an angle so if some of the sunrays are reflected back, they will hit in a different place. Equatorial lands also receive more sunlight because the sunlight travels through less atmosphere than non-equatorial lands.

Answer 2

The axis of the Earth is not perpendicular to its orbital path. For this reason, the Sun appears to move north and south with the seasons. This creates "summer" when the Sun is closer to directly overhead, and when the days are much longer than the nights. The situation is reversed six months later, bringing cooler temperatures or "winter".

At the Equator, the noon Sun is never more than about 23.5° either north or south of directly overhead, and the days and nights are about equally long. This creates "summer" conditions year-round, with almost no variation in the solar heat received.

Answer 3

The rays of the sun strike the planet at the equator at close to a 90 degree angle, penetrating the atmosphere more effectively and transmitting more direct energy. This is the same reason that summers are hotter in the temperate regions than the winter,

Answer 4

at the equator, the sun rays must travel through less atmosphere to reach earth than they do at the poles. see picture

Answer 5

Because the equator is close to the sun.