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Long ago when sailors were traveling at sea they wanted to know where they were, if for example they got into difficulties and needed help. So they divided the earth up with imaginary lines which we call longitude and latitude. (Sinead Tully)
The earth is divided up with imaginary lines going down along it.180 east and 180 west.There are 360 of them altogether, like in a circle 180 degrees east 180 degrees west. They start on a line called Greenwich in England and go all the way around the around the world, and meet around the other side on a line called the International Date Line.
These lines also decide time, so every 1 degree is equal to 4 minutes and 15 degrees are equal to one hour. When you go east to Europe you add on an hour and when you go west to America you subtract an hour. Around at the International Date Line you step forward a day like from Monday to Tuesday.For this reason the lines of Longitude are not straight so as to avoid splitting up countries with different time zones. (Sinead Tully)
Are imaginary vertical lines. There are 360 lines in total. 180 East 180 West. The first line of Longitude is 0, which is at Greenwich. It is called the Greenwich Meridian. (Emma O'Donoghue)
The earth is also divided into imaginary lines going across the globe called parallels of Latitude. There are 180 lines altogether. 90 lines North of the Equator and 90 lines south of the Equator. (Sinead Tully)
Lines of Latitude never meet and are not the same length (Emma O'Donoghue)
In Ireland we have a North West European type climate, also called a Temperate climate as we do not have extremes of weather. This simple rhyme helps to remember our climate:
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Ireland's average winter temperature ranges from 4 degrees to 7 degrees which is is higher than that of most other countries on the same Latitude in the centre of Europe or in North America for example.This reasonably warm winter in Ireland is caused by the Prevailing winds (South Westerlies)which are warm and moist coming from the Atlantic Ocean. The Prevailing Winds also effects our summer climate keeping the average temperature ranging between 16 to 19 degrees which is lower than other countries on the same Latitude. (Nicola Comiskey)
Our climate is predictable. We have reasonably cold winters but normally no snow. Our winters consist of mainly wind ,rain,sleet and frost. Occasionally we have snow and hail. W e also have reasonably warm summers. Our summers have occasional showers of rain. The weather can get extremely warm on some summer days. Our spring time is a mixture of both the Winter and Summer weather . Our spring months are February, March and April and the weather gets warmer and drier coming closer to he summer months. Our Autumn , like the Spring , is also a mixture of the winter and summer weather. It gets colder in August, September and October coming closer to the winter. (Sarah Hall)
As Ireland's climate is a moderate one, no matter which season, the weather is normally mild. In Spring perhaps there will be some rain and maybe a bit of sun. The temperature will usually be slightly cold in the morning but then near mid day even if it is raining it will be warmer. In summer, the temperature is usually warmer than Spring with more sun and less rain. Then, when Autumn comes and the trees lose their leaves, it becomes colder and windy. It rains a lot and it is usually miserable. In winter the weather is much the same, except it gets colder and the sky is always gray and cloudy. It makes Spring more enjoyable. (Nicola Comiskey)
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