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Somebody probably said this earlier, but the idea that Europe is “mild for its latitude”. It isn’t, it’s just on the west coast of a continent. North America is also “mild for its latitude” on the west coast. But people on the east coast of North America don’t seem to understand the difference between a west coast and east coast climate. The east coast is “harsh” for its latitude, more like.
By Euro-centric I mean cultures originating in Europe, especially with roots in ancient Greece and Rome, so that definitely includes modern North America.
Somebody probably said this earlier, but the idea that Europe is “mild for its latitude”. It isn’t, it’s just on the west coast of a continent. North America is also “mild for its latitude” on the west coast. But people on the east coast of North America don’t seem to understand the difference between a west coast and east coast climate. The east coast is “harsh” for its latitude, more like.
More like a thin sliver of western NA, certainly not comparable with Europe with East West mountains allow tons of maritime air to flood the continent, while over here all the North South mountains (worst climate orientation in the world) allow very bitter arctic air to infiltrate the whole continent all the way west to a thin sliver of the coast. Just look at USDA growing zones in Europe vs North America and you will see.
Somebody probably said this earlier, but the idea that Europe is “mild for its latitude”. It isn’t, it’s just on the west coast of a continent. North America is also “mild for its latitude” on the west coast. But people on the east coast of North America don’t seem to understand the difference between a west coast and east coast climate. The east coast is “harsh” for its latitude, more like.
This is true but the west coast of Europe has the added benefit of the gulf stream which gives the 'mildness' extra kick in Europe. Europes climate would be very different without the Gulf Stream.
Another annoying exaggeration of weather and climate that I’ve heard people say is that Indianapolis has winter half the year, and while Indianapolis is indeed a cool or cold climate, I would say that in a typical year, winter weather lasts 4 or 5 months out of the year.
The prevailing winds in the Southern Hemisphere flow in the opposite direction though. So, you'd have to reverse those.
The only switch would be the circulation regimes for ridges and troughs. And they still end up producing the same climate positions and wind direction on both hemispheres.
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Moreover, there's a 4-degree difference in latitude between the places you're trying to compare. That's quite substantial.
Even sticking at latitude-latitude, the point still stands:
The "harsh East" is a misconception that arises because the two areas on Earth prone to low-latitude cold happen to be on eastern sides (in North America and Asia). But that circumstance is nothing to do with east and west, and can simply be cancelled if there are modifying factors (i.e. oceans, mountains, etc).
Somebody probably said this earlier, but the idea that Europe is “mild for its latitude”. It isn’t, it’s just on the west coast of a continent. North America is also “mild for its latitude” on the west coast. But people on the east coast of North America don’t seem to understand the difference between a west coast and east coast climate. The east coast is “harsh” for its latitude, more like.
Yes, it is true. There is nothing «*abnormal*» about the western European weather conditions. These conditions are very different compared to the east coast of north America because of dominant winds and water currents goes from west to east.
There Is no reason to consider the climates of the east sides of continents to be the «normal ones*» and the climates of the west coast to be abnormal cases. From our western European references it is the eastern coasts of continents that have abnormally cold winter conditions for equivalent latitudes...
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