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Answer:sunlight strikes the poles at an oblique angle.
From the polar regions, the sun is low in the sky, so that the sunlight hits the earth at a low angle, as it does for us in the morning and evening. This low angle means that the sunlight is more spread out, and thus warms the surface less.
The polar regions of earth are not cooler because they are farther away from the equator, and they are not cooler because they are farther from the sun. The poles are only about 3000 km farther from the sun than is the equator at noon. This is about 0.002% of the earth-sun distance -- hardly significant.
Wiki User
∙ 12y ago
Wiki User
∙ 15y agoThe Equator receives sunlight almost directly down through the atmosphere, the Polar regions receive sunlight obliquely through the atmosphere thereby sunlight has to travel further through the insulating atmosphere. Subsequently, the Equator has higher temperatures than the Polar regions.
Wiki User
∙ 10y agoLess sunlight per unit of surface area.
(The sunlight strikes the poles at a low angle, the equator at a high angle.)
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoBecause they get less light/heat from the sun
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How do the total number of hours of sun light in a year compare for a tropical regions and polar regions of the earth Why are polar regions so much cooler?
A) About the same. B) Because the energy per unit area is greater near the equator than at the poles. i.e. the sun is overhead more in tropical areas (and never at the poles).
Describe the temperature of the currents that flow away from the equator and explain why they are this way?
Heating by the sun near the equator makes the water there warm. In the polar regions, the water is cold. Cold water weighs more than warm and as a result, the warm waters of the equator drift toward the poles. The cold wear from the poles then flows toward the equator to replace the warm water that is leaving.
Why is weathering faster than in polar regions?
why weathering is faster in tropics than in the polar region
Why does warm water flow away from the equator?
Why are polar zones colder than the other zones?
Because they are furthest from the sun and the angle at which the sun's rays hit the polar regions is much shallower than at other regions.
Why are polar regions cooler than equatorial regions?
The polar regions get the least amount of warming rays from the Sun.
What regions usually has temperatures cooler than temperatures near the equator?
Temperate Zones are usually cooler than the temperatures near the equator.
What contributes to warmer temperatures as you travel from the polar regions toward the equator?
The equator faces the sun more directly than the polar regions do, and therefore gets more sunlight and more resulting heat.
Is the water hot in the equator?
It is warmer than in temperate and polar regions. It is not hot, though.
If the arctic is under the equator like Australia how is it so cold?
The arctic is NOT "under the equator." It is at the north polar region. The Antarctic is at the south polar region; the average temp in the polar regions are much colder than at the equator.
How do the total number of hours of sun light in a year compare for a tropical regions and polar regions of the earth Why are polar regions so much cooler?
A) About the same. B) Because the energy per unit area is greater near the equator than at the poles. i.e. the sun is overhead more in tropical areas (and never at the poles).
Polar air masses are cooler than tropical air masses because the place where they start I what?
Polar air masses are cooler than tropical air masses because they originate from high-latitude regions closer to the poles, where temperatures are generally colder. Conversely, tropical air masses originate from low-latitude regions near the equator, where temperatures are generally warmer. This temperature difference between the two regions accounts for the inherent temperature contrast between polar and tropical air masses.
How much more direct sunlight does the polar region receive than the equator?
The polar regions never receive any direct sunlight.
Is the thickness of earth atmosphere the same in polar regions as equatorial regions?
Yes, the thickness varies from te equatoral to the polar regions due to the Earth's rotation. The atmosphere is thicker at the equator than the poles. this is due to the earths rotation and centripital force.
Why does more solar energy reach the equatorial regions than the polar regions?
Because the sun hits more directly at the equator. More sunlight is reflected off from the polar regions, and so less sunlight hits in the polar regions. NO! The sun's rays strike the polar regions at a lower angle, therefore delivering the same amount of energy, but spreading it over a greater area. This is what causes lower temperatures in the polar regions.
Why does solar energy reach the equatorial regions more than the polar regions?
Because the sun hits more directly at the equator. More sunlight is reflected off from the polar regions, and so less sunlight hits in the polar regions. NO! The sun's rays strike the polar regions at a lower angle, therefore delivering the same amount of energy, but spreading it over a greater area. This is what causes lower temperatures in the polar regions.
How can a location closer to the equator be cooler than one closer to the polar regions.?
There is a general tendency for places closer to the equator to be hotter. However, the temperature does not ONLY depend on the latitude. It also depends on other factors, for example on whether it is night or day, on clouds, on the amount of vegetation, on the closeness to large bodies of water, etc.
