THE IDL

The International Date Line (IDL) is an internationally accepted

demarcation of the surface of Earth, running between
the South and North Poles and serving as the boundary between
one calendar day and the next. It passes through the Pacific Ocean,
roughly following the 180.0° line of longitude and deviating to pass
around some territories and island groups. Crossing the date line
eastbound decreases the date by one day, while crossing the date line
westbound increases the date.

Geography

A simplified illustration of the relation between date line, date and

time of day. Each colour represents a different date.
Circumnavigating the globe
People traveling westward around the world must set their
clocks:

• Back by one hour for every 15° of longitude crossed,

and
• Forward by 24 hours upon crossing the International
Date Line.
People traveling eastward must set their clocks:

• Forward by one hour for every 15° of longitude crossed,

and
• Back by 24 hours upon crossing the International Date
Line.
Failing to do this would make their time inaccurate to the local
time

THE ROTATION OF THE EARTH ON ITS AXIS

The rotation of the Earth on its axis causes day and night. As the Earth rotates, only one-half of
the Earth faces the sun at any given time. The half facing the sun is light (day) and the half facing
away from the sun is dark (night). The animation below shows the Earth's rotation.

When viewed above the North Pole, the Earth rotates counterclockwise, from west to east. This
is also called a prograde rotation. Because of this direction of rotation, we see the sun rising
every day in the east and setting in the west. If viewed below the South Pole, the earth rotates in
a clockwise direction, it is said to have a retrograde rotation.
EARTH’S REVOLUTION
A common misconception many people have is that the seasons are caused by the distance of
the Earth from the sun. This is not true. Because Earth's orbit around the sun is slightly elliptical,
Earth is actually slightly closer to the sun in the winter than it is in the summer.

Earth's axis was tilted about 23.5 degrees. It is the tilt of Earth's axis that causes the seasons