“I assumed the equator was more or less at the upper edge of Africa/lower edge of Europe”—I’ve met Danes who thought along the same lines, so I’m not sure it’s not a common mistake to make. Just as all of North America is north of the equator and all of South America is south of the equator; I guess it just seems more convenient that way.
On an unrelated note, nobody have explicitly mentioned the Gulf Stream or the North Atlantic Drift in the comments, so I figure I should point out the importance of this one when talking about the climate of Western Europe. I live in Jutland, more specifically quite close to the 56th parallel north—this is equivalent to the Southern parts of Hudson Bay or the Bering Sea, and we have a temperate climate.
The Equator passes through South America, actually. I think that there is a perception of the world’s land area being divided in two by the Equator, but most of the world’s land area is in the Northern Hemisphere (about 2⁄3, more if you don’t count Antarctica).
“The Equator passes through South America”—I know that. Ecuador’s named Ecuador for a reason. My point was that people get both of these (Africa/Europe & North/South America) wrong.
If you’d read the last link in my post above you’d not have posted the comment you just did.
“I assumed the equator was more or less at the upper edge of Africa/lower edge of Europe”—I’ve met Danes who thought along the same lines, so I’m not sure it’s not a common mistake to make. Just as all of North America is north of the equator and all of South America is south of the equator; I guess it just seems more convenient that way.
On an unrelated note, nobody have explicitly mentioned the Gulf Stream or the North Atlantic Drift in the comments, so I figure I should point out the importance of this one when talking about the climate of Western Europe. I live in Jutland, more specifically quite close to the 56th parallel north—this is equivalent to the Southern parts of Hudson Bay or the Bering Sea, and we have a temperate climate.
The Equator passes through South America, actually. I think that there is a perception of the world’s land area being divided in two by the Equator, but most of the world’s land area is in the Northern Hemisphere (about 2⁄3, more if you don’t count Antarctica).
Edit: My apologies (see next comment).
“The Equator passes through South America”—I know that. Ecuador’s named Ecuador for a reason. My point was that people get both of these (Africa/Europe & North/South America) wrong.
If you’d read the last link in my post above you’d not have posted the comment you just did.