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==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
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Because of the Earth's axial tilt, the apparent daily path of the Sun through the sky - in particular, how long it takes and how high in the sky it gets - is different depending on how far North or South of the Equator you are (your latitude), and also changes throughout the year as the Earth revolves around the Sun. This fact yields two very important pairs of latitudes:
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{{incomplete|Created by WINTER. Need much more details on why it's bleak in the Winter in the middle. Also explain the title text Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
  
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* {{w|Arctic Circle}} (66°33′North)
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Middle latitudes are latitudes between the Arctic or Antarctic Circle (66 degrees North/South of the equator, respectively) and the Tropic of Cancer/Capricorn (23 degrees North/South of the Equator), two important latitudes on the globe that delineates some features of how the Sun rises and sets during the day.
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* {{w|Tropic of Cancer}} (23°26′North)
 
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and
 
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* {{w|Tropic of Capricorn}} (23°26′South)
 
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* {{w|Antarctic Circle}} (66°33′South)
 
  
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The latitudes that lie within these two bands are called the {{w|middle latitudes}} - also sometimes referred to as the North Temperate Zone and the South Temperate Zone respectively.
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In the Northern hemisphere North of the Arctic Circle there is at least one day in the year when the sun doesn't set (in Summer) or doesn't rise (in Winter), below that latitude the sun will rise and set every day - even for a short time. Also in the North Hemisphere at any latitudes South of the Tropic of Cancer there is one day of the year where the sun will shine directly from above, while North of these latitudes there will be no such days, as the sun will always shine from an angle. The length of the day South of the Tropic of Cancer will also be close to 12 hours a day regardless of whether it is Summer or Winter. The length of the day in the middle latitudes will vary however, in the Winter time days are shorter, while in the Summer time days are longer. These are more visible the more one goes North, as close to the Artics the sun will only rise for a few hours in the Winter, and similarly will only set for a few hours in the Summer.
  
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The Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn are the latitudes beyond which, if you go any further from the Equator, it is no longer possible for the Sun to be directly overhead at any time of the year. Similarly, the Arctic and Antarctic Circles represent the latitudes beyond which it is possible for the Sun not to rise or set ''at all'' at some times of the year.
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In the Southern hemisphere the situation is similar - any latitude South of the Artic Circle will have a day where there's no sun, and North of the Tropic of Cancer there will be a time when the sun shines from directly above, and the length of the days are close to 12 hours the whole year. Between the two none of these will happen at any time of the year. Also days will be longer or shorter dependent on the season with Summer having shorter days and Winter having longer (the opposite of how it is in the Northern hemisphere)
  
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In the middle latitudes - which occur between these extremes - we instead get the rather less impressive phenomenon of daylight simply being a bit longer in summer and a bit shorter in winter.
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The comic refers to these facts that inside the middle latitudes there are simply no interesting features at any time of the year, however in Winter (in the Northern Latitudes) the sun will set earlier, and generally because of the lower temperatures and shorter days it has a bleak feeling.
  
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In the comic, the middle latitudes are sarcastically proffered as a [[:Category:Compromise|compromise]] between two extremes described by Cueball: day lengths that don't vary that much (as occurs in the torrid zone near the Equator), and no possibility of days with no daylight at all (as occurs in the Arctic/Antarctic zones). However, it is clear that Megan's compromise merely results in seasonal weather that has no interesting or useful features at any time of the year. In particular, winter is singled out as a season that is generally just dim and bleak in the middle latitudes, with days that don't last long and are cold and dull anyway.
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There are other comics that refer to the length of the day, and how it is different each day, for example [[2050: 6/6 Time]]
  
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The title text extends the idea with another spurious compromise, this time between snowy blizzards and warm sunny beaches - both of which are enjoyable in their own ways, but "splitting the difference" and combining the two would result in unpleasant icy slush.
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The comic plays on the idiom "split the difference" by applying it to the length of day vs. night.  To split the difference is to agree (or settle) on an amount of something, such as money, that is halfway between two others.  This can sometimes be characterized as a compromise where nobody gets what they want.
  
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There are other comics that refer to the length of the day, and how it is different each day, for example, [[2050: 6/6 Time]].
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Cueball starts by wishing to experience two extremes: normal sunrise and sunset, vs. weeks of 24-hour darkness.  Satisfying one or the other condition requires locating either to the Equator or to one of the poles.  Megan proposes a "split the difference" compromise, which turns out to involve dim, bleak winters.  Satisfying the compromise would mean locating in the "middle latitudes".  Thus the bottom caption, "middle latitudes are the worst."
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The title text extends the idea.  Splitting the difference between "fun" snowy blizzards and "fun" warm sunny beaches would mean having neither, but instead icy wet slush.
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==
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:[Cueball and Megan standing and talking, Megan with her arms raised.]
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:
 
:Cueball: It would be nice if the sun could rise and set at normal times. But it would also be cool to experience 24-hour darkness for weeks on end.
 
:Cueball: It would be nice if the sun could rise and set at normal times. But it would also be cool to experience 24-hour darkness for weeks on end.
 
:Megan: Well, what if we split the difference, so all winter everything was normal but slightly more dim and bleak?
 
:Megan: Well, what if we split the difference, so all winter everything was normal but slightly more dim and bleak?
 
:Cueball: Perfect!
 
:Cueball: Perfect!
 
:[Caption below the frame:]
 
:[Caption below the frame:]
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:Middle latitudes are the worst.
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:Middle latitudes are the worst
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{{comic discussion}}
 
{{comic discussion}}
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[[Category:Astronomy]]
 
[[Category:Astronomy]]
 
[[Category:Time]]
 
[[Category:Time]]
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[[Category:Compromise]]
 

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