Trade winds blow from east to west just above the equator. The winds pull surface water with them, creating currents, which flow westward due to the
Coriolis effect. The currents then bend to the right, heading north. At about 30 degrees north latitude, a different set of winds, the
westerlies, push the currents back to the east, producing a closed clockwise loop.[2]
Its surface is 60.7% water, compared with 80.9% water in the case of the
Southern Hemisphere, and it contains 67.3% of Earth's land.[3] The continents of
North America and mainland
Eurasia are located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere, together with about two-thirds of
Africa and a small part of
South America.
Geography and climate
During the 2.5 million years of the
Pleistocene, numerous cold phases called
glacials (
Quaternary ice age), or significant advances of continental ice sheets, in
Europe and
North America, occurred at intervals of approximately 40,000 to 100,000 years. The long glacial periods were separated by more temperate and shorter
interglacials which lasted about 10,000–15,000 years. The last cold episode of the
last glacial period ended about 10,000 years ago.[4] Earth is currently in an interglacial period of
the Quaternary, called the
Holocene.[5] The glaciations that occurred during the glacial period covered many areas of the Northern Hemisphere.
The
Arctic is a region around the
North Pole (90°
latitude). Its climate is characterized by cold winters and cool summers. Precipitation mostly comes in the form of snow. Areas inside the
Arctic Circle (66°34′ latitude) experience some days in summer when the Sun never sets, and some days during the winter when it never rises. The duration of these phases varies from one day for locations right on the Arctic Circle to several months near the Pole, which is the middle of the Northern Hemisphere.
Between the Arctic Circle and the
Tropic of Cancer (23°26′ latitude) lies the
Northern temperate zone. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally mild, rather than extreme hot or cold. However, a temperate climate can have very unpredictable weather.
Tropical regions (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Equator, 0° latitude) are generally hot all year round and tend to experience a
rainy season during the summer months, and a
dry season during the winter months.
In the Northern Hemisphere, objects moving across or above the surface of the Earth tend to turn to the right because of the
Coriolis effect. As a result, large-scale horizontal flows of air or water tend to form clockwise-turning
gyres.[6] These are best seen in ocean circulation patterns in the
North Atlantic and
North Pacific oceans.[6] Within the Northern Hemisphere, oceanic currents can change the weather patterns that affect many factors within the north coast.[7]
For the same reason, flows of air down toward the northern surface of the Earth tend to spread across the surface in a clockwise pattern. Thus, clockwise air circulation is characteristic of
high pressure weather cells in the Northern Hemisphere. Conversely, air rising from the northern surface of the Earth (creating a region of low pressure) tends to draw air toward it in a counterclockwise pattern.
Hurricanes and
tropical storms (massive low-pressure systems) spin counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere.[8]
The shadow of a sundial moves clockwise on latitudes north of the
subsolar point and anticlockwise to the south. During the day at these latitudes, the Sun tends to rise to its maximum at a southerly position. Between the Tropic of Cancer and the Equator, the sun can be seen to the north, directly overhead, or to the south at noon, depending on the time of year. In the Southern Hemisphere, the midday Sun is predominantly in the north.
When viewed from the Northern Hemisphere, the
Moon appears inverted compared to a view from the Southern Hemisphere.[9][10] The North Pole faces away from the
Galactic Center of the
Milky Way. This results in the Milky Way being sparser and dimmer in the Northern Hemisphere compared to the Southern Hemisphere, making the Northern Hemisphere more suitable for deep-space observation, as it is not "blinded" by the Milky Way.[citation needed]
Demographics
As of 2015, the Northern Hemisphere is home to approximately 6.4 billion people which is around 87.0% of the earth's total human population of 7.3 billion people.[11][12][13]
List of continents, countries or territories, and oceans in the Northern Hemisphere
^
abThe continent itself is entirely within the Northern Hemisphere. However, some overseas territories of the countries of
France,
Norway and the
United Kingdom are in the Southern Hemisphere.
^Calculated from World Population Yearbook 2019(in thousands)
World total population: 7,359,970
Northern Hemisphere population: 6,405,030 87.0%
Southern Hemisphere population: 954,940 13.0%
Note 1) If there is no data for 2019, the latest data was used.
Note 2) Countries with land that straddles the equator are divided into half populations in each of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.