This time of year, we get all sorts of communications about summer. Summer events, vacations, holidays, and weather.
But let’s not forget our friends experiencing winter in the Southern Hemisphere right now. Even though the Northern Hemisphere is more populated (with about 88% of the world’s population), our readers down south deserve a newsletter that reminds people of their climate and calendar.
Anyone who’s relocated to Australia or South Africa with children knows that the school year runs from late January to mid-December, with the summer break in between. While many northern transferees move during their summertime, the children will be entering Southern Hemisphere schools mid-year.
Even placing a call or scheduling a web conference requires a moment’s thought. Daylight Saving Time (DST) is observed in many northern locations from roughly April through October. Southern Hemisphere DST – for those countries that observe it — is reversed, adding one more layer to your time zone conversion. Tools like this one help simplify scheduling meetings across time zones.
Winter climates tend to be less extreme in most places around the Southern Hemisphere than in Northern Hemisphere counterpoints. One reason for this is that the hemisphere is mostly water – 80% — which cools and warms more slowly than land. Amidst all this water, there are many important cities in the bottom half of the earth. As for what’s going on this time of year, check out events in Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Christchurch, Lima, Patagonia, Melbourne, and Sydney.
Sometimes simply looking up at the night sky can be breathtaking, especially when viewing an entirely different arrangement of stars, planets, and constellations. Click here for a chart of the southern night sky this August.
Living Abroad’s International Relocation Center covers more than 30 countries located wholly or partly in the Southern Hemisphere. You can find time zones, school information, and entertainment options – among many other topics – in each of these reports.
For those of us braving summer temperatures around 35°C/95°F, it’s lovely to think of cooler seasons and all there is to do in those winter places.
Written by Ellen Harris, Product Manager, Content Group
