Surely you still keep, even if it is a vague memory of those lessons about the meridians and parallels of the school, those imaginary lines that rule the world and that we can describe far above, but on which today we intend to focus to learn more about they.
The first thing that we must point out, especially when thinking about those who tend to confuse them with each other, is that the meridians are the vertical imaginary lines , always in the form of a semicircle, that cross the planet from pole to pole, while the parallels cross them transversely.
Likewise, it must be taken into account that each meridian and parallel has an antimeridian and antiparallel, which are those that complete the circumference of the planet.
For different reasons, meridians tend to be more popular than parallels, and in particular the Greenwich meridian has a notable reputation, not only because it is the 0 ° meridian, but also because, in some way, placing it there represents a symbol of the beginning of modern civilizations.
This also gives us the guideline that the meridians are listed by degrees , ranging from 0 ° to 180 °, rotating from East to West until completing those 360 ° total of the earth’s circumference.
What are meridians and parallels for?
Since its inception, and throughout the history of humanity, meridians and parallels have had different uses although, basically, they are there to measure useful distances in various circumstances.
The combination of meridians and parallels gives rise to coordinate systems, which from the beginning of maritime navigation made this activity possible, later becoming fundamental for air traffic and, increasingly, for land transport.
On the other hand, the meridians are responsible for each country having a time zone, or several time zones, different from those of other nations, and according to their geographical location. This explains why, in Spain, there is a timetable for the continent and another for the Canary Islands.
Of course, that decision is the responsibility of the governments, and we see cases such as China, which shares a single time zone for all its territory despite how extensive it is, an alternative opposite to that of the United States or Russia, which have from various local time zones.
In general, it is committed to making maximum use of sunlight and saving energy, and that solves the enigma of the time changes that countries like Spain make every year.
You need light and our attention, since the energy saving is excellent and huge.
