“ROUND ATLAS” FUN REDUX

“CANADA AS FAR SOUTH AS CALIFORNIA”?? This calls to mind the NPR April Fool’s spoof that the U.S. sold Arizona to Canada. It was a win/win deal: Canadians had a warm place to go in the winter. And Arizona’s ex-Governor Bruce Babbit got the job of running the new province.

Indeed, I usta think it was Texas being sold, and an even bigger win/win: The rest of us were fine getting rid of Texans. 

But, no. This particular Canada fact comes from Interesting Facts, a website having encouraged research more than once here at SimanaitisSays. Today, geographical tidbits are gleaned from Interesting Facts and from other sources akin to those shared in “ ‘Round Atlas’ Fun.”

Middle Island, Canada’s Southernmost Point. This geographic fun is all traceable to Canada’s Middle Island, so named being in the middle of Lake Erie, just south of Pelee Island, about half way between Ontario mainland’s Point Pelee and Ohio’s Sandusky. 

Image by NormanEinstein from Wikipedia. 

Sandusky, by the way, is the home of Cedar Point amusement park, the largest of its kind in the U.S. and the second oldest, established in 1870. On a personal note, I once spent an overnight there, sleeping in the front footwell of a Chrysler 300C convertible. (A good time was had by all, despite my losing the accommodation bidding.)

Wikipedia notes, “The southernmost point of Middle Island is at a latitude of North 41°40′53″, which is at a slightly lower latitude than the southernmost point in Michigan and slightly farther south than downtown Chicago. Twenty-seven U.S. states lie fully or partly north of this point.… California, Nevada, and Utah, albeit only their northernmost edge, are amongst the states that lie partially north of Middle Island, as their northern border is at the 42nd parallel north.” Thus confirming of the Interesting Facts’ item. 

Other Middle Island Tidbits. Wikipedia recounts, “During Prohibition, the island was a way station for alcohol en route to the United States on the south shore of Lake Erie. Gangster Joe Roscoe acquired part of the island and built a seven-bedroom ‘clubhouse’ that became the centre of rum-running activity. The hotel offered electricity, fireplaces, and a large screened-in porch with views of the lake. The basement held a casino, carved out of solid bedrock.… There was at one time a stately mansion on the island, rumored to be a brothel some time after Prohibition. Only a remnant of the foundation remains.”

Other Canada Tidbits. Interesting Facts notes that Canada has the world’s longest coastline: “Canada isn’t always known for its sandy, oceanside destinations, but it’s actually home to the world’s longest coastline, at 125,567 miles long. The second-place finisher is Indonesia, at 61,567 miles long.” 

But Not So Simple. Indeed, as described in Wikipedia, there’s a paradox that coastlines (and hence many country boundaries) do not have well-defined lengths: Coastlines behave like fractals. 

A Kochflake fractal has infinite length.  

That is, convoluted coastlines (like Norway’s, second in length on the world’s list) are affected by this fractal behavior more than relatively smooth ones (like Brazil’s). 

Yet Other Canadian Tidbits. As listed by Wikipedia, Canada (3,855,100 sq. m.) is the second-largest country in the world—only Russia (6,601,667 sq. m.) has more surface area.  China is close behind (3,705,410 sq. m.), as is the U.S. (3,677,647 sq. m.).

Interesting Facts says, “Canada is famously known as the Great White North, but most of its citizens live in the country’s southerly regions — which are more southerly than you might think. In fact, 90% of Canadians live within 100 miles of the U.S.-Canadian border, and around 60% of all Canadians live south of Seattle, Washington.”

Canada’s Climate-Change Future?  “Why do so many Canadians cling to these southern regions?,” Interesting Facts ask rhetorically. “In large part, agriculture. According to Canadian historian William Lewis Morton, commercial agriculture in these warmer climates formed a network of towns, which then developed into modern cities following the Industrial Revolution. These numbers could change as the world continues to warm, and Canada’s colder regions prepare for an influx of climate refugees. In 50 to 100 years, Canada likely won’t resemble the Great White North anymore.” 

It could well become the food box of the world. ds

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2024