What happens without an International Date Line?

This imaginary line was first established in 1884. It is a line that is accepted internationally by all countries that mark the area where one can say that the previous day has ended and the new day has begun. The international date line lies exactly halfway along the planet from Greenwich which is considered to be 00 longitude. Without this line, it would be hard to keep track of longitudes, time zones and what day of the year it is. In the coming sections, the international date line map is also given.

What is the international date line?

This imaginary line was first established in 1884. It is a line that is accepted internationally by all countries that mark the area where one can say that the previous day has ended and the new day has begun. 

The international date line is seen to pass through the mid pacific ocean and the path further followed is from north and south towards the polar regions. It runs between the north and the south pole.

When the date line is crossed eastwards then the day decreases by one day or 24 hours and if the line is crossed westwards then the day increases by one day or 24 hours.

The world is divided in such a way with 24 time zones that when it is noon the sun is above the meridian line or the longitudinal line at any place.

The international date line lies exactly halfway along the planet from Greenwich which is considered to be 00 longitude.

What happens without the international date line?

One question that arises when learning about the international date line, longitudes and time is why is the international date line required? What would happen with international time? 

Without the international date line keeping track of what day passes by and what day has arrived, the calendar would not be necessary as there would just be chaos and confusion as to what day it is.

 People travelling would feel as if they have gained an extra day from the time they spent travelling from east to west or west to east. The extra day gained also was what Ferdinand Magellan experienced during his voyage. 

Let’s imagine what would happen without longitudes and time zones. If we fly from the west to east, we would have to change our time every single time we crossed a time zone. Without the accuracy of the current watches, it would be seen that people would set different time on their watches as a result this may lead to large inaccuracies. The international date line makes it easier to keep track of international time.

What does the date line look like?

Since it is called the ‘date line’ most of us would think that the line actually connects two points and is straight but this is far from the truth. 

Ever since the need for an international date line has arisen to keep track of international time, it has been drawn in a zigzag manner so as to prevent one country from having two different days. 

But in 1995, a problem arose when the Kiribati islands in the pacific ocean of which only twenty are inhabited initially divided these groups of islands into two different days. When the people of Kiribati brought this to international notice, which happened in 1995, almost all nations took immediate notice and curved the line around these islands. Since there is no international treaty or a signed document deciding the position of the international date line, it was easy to bring about this change.

Conclusion

This imaginary line was first established in 1884. It is a line that is accepted internationally by all countries that mark the area where one can say that the previous day has ended and the new day has begun. Without this line, it would be hard to keep track of longitudes, time zones and what day of the year it is.