Why horse latitudes

The southern hemisphere has a more continuous belt of subsiding air as compared to the northern hemisphere, as there is more water content in the southern hemisphere. These belts are known to contain several separate high-pressure centres. Horse latitude meaning is literally derived from three specific conditions that have revolved around the actual animal.

These three interesting conditions are mentioned below:. In this ritual, the seamen paraded a straw-stuffed effigy of the animal around the deck and then threw it overboard.

According to the story, the seamen were partly paid in advance before leaving for the voyage, which they usually spent all at once. This would result in a time period without any income for approximately a month or two.

Hence, such a latitude came to be known as a dead horse latitude. Warm, dry, and sunny conditions over the oceans creates Earth's major deserts that are not in the polar regions.

Subtropical high The ridge of high pressure is also called a subtropical high and is one of several regions where high atmospheric pressures occur over the oceans. The subtropical latitudes are located both north and south of the equator in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres of. Sailing ships in these latitudes The area between these latitudes has little precipitation. It has variable winds. Sailing ships sometimes while traveling to distant shores would have the winds die down and the area would be calm for days before the winds increased.

Deserts form in the horse latitudes These warm dry conditions lead to many well known deserts. In the Northern Hemisphere deserts that lie in this subtropical high included the Sahara Desert in Africa and the southwestern deserts of the United States and Mexico. Click for More Information and to Order.

This service is more advanced with JavaScript available. Climatology Edition. Contents Search. Horse latitudes. Authors Authors and affiliations Rhodes W. The horse latitudes are regions located at about 30 degrees north and south of the equator. These latitudes are characterized by calm winds and little precipitation. The horse latitudes are located at about 30 degrees north and south of the equator. It is common in this region of the subtropics for winds to diverge and either flow toward the poles known as the prevailing westerlies or toward the equator known as the trade winds.