A question about Planetos?

[Ser Duncan of Flea Bottom]

One thing that drawed my attention recently is the existence of a North Pole in Planetos, as we have the permanent ice (I'm not sure if that's the name) north of the Shivering Sea.

Still, we never saw a South Pole being mentioned, is it possible that all we see in Planetos so far is the North Hemisphere of the planet? If the planet is Earth-like, it's possible there is a South Hemisphere.

Maybe there is more than one land of always winter. that makes me think.

What do you guys think?

[Hangover of the Morning]

I would think the Summer Isles are on or near the equator so we only see the northern hemisphere.

[Archmaester Drew]

Yes, the known world is in the northern hemisphere. The map shows an area analogous to Eurasia and northern Africa. There are many lands yet unknown. :)

[House Hendrix of Rock]

The best I saw on this matter said something about Dorne being around 27° latitude, IIRC

[Hos the Hostage]

Martin said Westeros is about the size of South America, and Planetos is about the size of earth or slightly bigger. So all we see is Northern hemisphere. Summer Isles must be near equator.

[aryagonnakill#2]

In our own world rainforests appear in the tropics between 0-15 degrees and deserts in the region just north of that 15-30. Since rainforests are all over the bottom of the map, it makes sense that's near the equator.

[Lord_Pepsi_Cupps]

Keep in mind that the Earth's climate zones are in part a result of the regular seasons (icecaps melt and freeze just so much every so often, etc).

You'd get much different climate zones with irregular seasons.

Plus GRRM emphasised that the cause of the weird seasons is magical, so there's magic to consider too.

I don't think drawing parallels (lol) with Earth is necessarily very reliable.

[GottfreyUndRoy]

Yup. We have definitely only seen the Northern Hemisphere

[Archmaester Drew]

Keep in mind that the Earth's climate zones are in part a result of the regular seasons (icecaps melt and freeze just so much every so often, etc).

You'd get much different climate zones with irregular seasons.

Plus GRRM emphasised that the cause of the weird seasons is magical, so there's magic to consider too.

I don't think drawing parallels (lol) with Earth is necessarily very reliable.

Climate zones are more strongly influenced by latitude regulating the amount and angle of solar radiation, and the bands of atmospheric circulation cells they produce. So seasons are not a big factor as long as they don't last too long. (Our seasons are caused by the change in the angle of the sun's rays at different points in the orbit vis-a-vis the tilt of the Earth's axis.) :)

[aryagonnakill#2]

I think what Lord_Pepsi_Cups is saying is that theoretically Planetos could have no tilt, and the "north" being cold could be due to ice magic emanating from some point rather than that point being colder than anywhere on earth. Likewise it could theoretically have a permanent tilt causing the northern hemisphere to always lean away while the southern is always leaning towards, causing there to be a significant region that is uninhabitable due to it being to hot rather than too cold.

I disagree with this premise but admit its entirely possible. We see the presence of hurricanes at storms end, we even learn its basically the same process, so I think GRRM did try to base Planetos off earth where he could, its just that he also added the magically adjusted seasons.

[H0X0]

I think what Lord_Pepsi_Cups is saying is that theoretically Planetos could have no tilt, and the "north" being cold could be due to ice magic emanating from some point rather than that point being colder than anywhere on earth. Likewise it could theoretically have a permanent tilt causing the northern hemisphere to always lean away while the southern is always leaning towards, causing there to be a significant region that is uninhabitable due to it being to hot rather than too cold.

I disagree with this premise but admit its entirely possible. We see the presence of hurricanes at storms end, we even learn its basically the same process, so I think GRRM did try to base Planetos off earth where he could, its just that he also added the magically adjusted seasons.

I wrote at length about this in another thread (will link later). Basically, all the textual clues indicate that:

1. We only see the northern hemisphere

2. There is roughly earth-like axial tilt with a precession period that is similar to earth's (and negligible nutation)

3. The magnetic poles are earth-like

4. There is something supernatural that makes "winter"

It seems there are minor seasons the same as earth, but they aren't accounted this way, because the magical seasons are much more severe.

[the sandship]

I would think the Summer Isles are on or near the equator so we only see the northern hemisphere.

:agree: when Belaerys flew with her dragon Terrax over Sothoros she found 1. endless Jungle ( at the equator, like the summer isles ), when she flew even more south she found desserts ( maybe the southern tropics of Planetos ) and then mountains, so we can assume that Planetos is like earth with an Equator and logical climates that come with that )