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Is the Arctic Ocean or the Atlantic ocean colder?

When we fly from America to Asia, why can't we fly across Pacific ocean instead of going the Atlantic ocean?

  • when you fly from say America to Asia, why can't we just cross the pacific ocean instead of flying over Atlantic ocean to get to Asia. Since the earth is round ( or so called oval shaped), it seems easier to reach Asia by Pacific ocean instead of going the long way thru Atlantic Ocean. I've always wondered about this. Thanks for your help!

  • Answer:

    A map doesn't show the curve of the earth, so straight lines on a map do not necessarily show the shortest distances in reality. Try doing the same thing on a globe with a piece of string between the two places. You will see that the string curves quite a bit when going between, say, New York and Beijing. That is why you may have to cross the Atlantic ocean even though a map will suggest otherwise.

melmat1 at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source

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Air flights must take Coriolis into affect, as it has a huge impact on the actual flight times; this may provide a clue into your question :) I'm a certified expert on geography and meteorology, contact me @ http://www.liveperson.com/direxmd if you have more questions or would like to talk about this question more.

direxmd

Air travel is always in the shape of an elliptical because it is actually a shorter route even though it doesn't seem like it would be... if you ever get a magazine on a flight you can look in the back and it will show you all of the places they travel and you will see they are all an elliptical

Britney S

Well, if you were flying to the eastern end of Russua, near Alaska, you'd be right, but for most Asian destinations, it's shorter to go across the Atlantic and Europe.

David

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