# Screw it, I'm just gonna ask: Why are the territories on Earth that are close to the South Pole really warm/hot, and the territories close to the North Pole are cold?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-it-im-just-gonna-ask-why-are-the-territories-on-earth-that-are-close-to-the-south-pole-really-warm-hot-and-the-territories-close-to-the-north-pole-are-cold/1002863>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 14, 2024, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-it-im-just-gonna-ask-why-are-the-territories-on-earth-that-are-close-to-the-south-pole-really-warm-hot-and-the-territories-close-to-the-north-pole-are-cold/1002863 "2024-06-14T11:19:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2024, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-it-im-just-gonna-ask-why-are-the-territories-on-earth-that-are-close-to-the-south-pole-really-warm-hot-and-the-territories-close-to-the-north-pole-are-cold/1002863/41 "2024-06-16T14:10:51Z")

</div>

> [@bump](#):
>
> Tropic of Cancer (23.494 degrees north)  
> Tropic of Capricorn (23.494 degrees south)

And just because this is The Dope, one will note that defining the tropics to this accuracy is not always meaningful. One thousandth of a degree of latitude is 111 meters.

The tropics are currently moving towards the Equator at about 46.8” per century, which is about 15 meters a year.

This is one of the Milankovitch cycles, and over the period of the cycle has a real influence on climate.

My father enjoyed showing people a picture of a sign on the road next to a line painted across the road denoting the Tropic of Capricorn, and pointing out that the real line was marching north at 4cm a day.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2024, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-it-im-just-gonna-ask-why-are-the-territories-on-earth-that-are-close-to-the-south-pole-really-warm-hot-and-the-territories-close-to-the-north-pole-are-cold/1002863/42 "2024-06-16T20:50:11Z")

</div>

I just cut and pasted from an article on the tropics.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/screw-it-im-just-gonna-ask-why-are-the-territories-on-earth-that-are-close-to-the-south-pole-really-warm-hot-and-the-territories-close-to-the-north-pole-are-cold/1002863.md?page=2)