<p>The negative latitudes are south.</p>
<p>Just as values to the right of the origin on the x axis and above the origin on the y axis in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartesian_coordinate_system" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Cartesian plane</a> are positive, and those down/left are negative, values east/north are very commonly written as positive and those west/south are commonly written as negative.  This, for one, allows for continual mathematical representation of latitude and longitude.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/yzSEWm.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/yzSEWm.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>Sometimes you <a href="https://mathematica.stackexchange.com/questions/18150/define-the-range-of-longitude-from-0-360-in-the-world-plot-from-countrydata">may also see</a> longitude labeled from 0° to +360°.  This choice can be a benefit to allow Asia and the Pacific Ocean to be more central in a global plot; most applications that plot geographic coordinates will be easiest to setup over a continual domain.  But I have never seen anything but negative latitudes for those south of the equator.</p>
<p>Could they be labeled that way?  Sure, if you really want to.  Just as with angles in a circle in general, latitude and longitude could feasibly be setup over any 360° range, and are truly <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8Db7kqILNI" rel="nofollow noreferrer">periodic</a> (to get a repeated map as <a href="https://i.sstatic.net/fx2mE.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer">OpenStreetMaps still shows at widest zoom as of today</a> you'd do 0° to 1080° longitude or such in many plotting programs... longitudes of 270° to 450° would be positive values that should work to get a single repeat of latitude).  We happened to settle on the choice of the equator and Prime Meridian as the typical references (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_meridian_(Greenwich)#History" rel="nofollow noreferrer">in part Eurocentric indeed</a>), and the east/north increasing standard; gladly navigation developed contemporaneously with larger mathematics (they kind of spurred each other on), or you could have somewhat differently defined systems, like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hREmYWBgvUQ" rel="nofollow noreferrer">bearing versus cartesian angles</a>, or various unit systems, to make conversion a bit of extra work.</p>
<p>Having east/north is generally simplest as it matches the Cartesian coordinate system.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-07T16:33:27.783Z
I'd add reasoning for why the ozone is at a lower altitude in the NH... if I were certain on it.  I believe if I remember right it's because the polar vortex is very entrenched in the Antarctic versus the Arctic, so there's very little downward mixing by higher wind speeds (and the Arctic actually has more springtime ozone for the same reason -- vortex breakdowns mean more poleward transport). https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.3137/ao.460103 could be a good read. But it may be best to post this aspect as its own question so the focus can be on that and get those with more ozone expertise
JeopardyTempest
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-07T17:02:53.807Z
(For those reading now, the ozone aspect to the question did migrate to [Why on Earth is the ozone layer on the northern hemisphere lower than on the southern hemisphere?](https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/questions/23996/why-on-earth-is-the-ozone-layer-on-the-northern-hemisphere-lower-than-on-the-sou))
JeopardyTempest
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-07T15:45:20.243Z
2022-07-08T10:55:29.723Z
2022-07-08T10:55:29.723Z
JeopardyTempest
<p>In this image from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone_layer" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wikipedia ozone layer page</a> there are positive (normal) and negative latitudes on the bottom axis:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/sKeOm.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/sKeOm.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>Are the negative latitudes those north or those south of the equator?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-07T11:56:23.607Z
Welcome to Earth Science SE. From the [help center](https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/help/how-to-ask): "Have you thoroughly searched for an answer before asking your question?"
Jean-Marie Prival
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-07T13:05:28.343Z
@Jean-MariePrival Thank you. IIRC I've never seen "negative" latitudes being shown anywhere. Latitudes are usually given as North or South, not positive or negative. I would assume the positive latitudes (on the right) in the image are north because that's where most people live and the USA are. OTOH the ozone layer seems lower in the positive ones which would imply the lower temperatures you find in Antarctica. But then why would the northern hemisphere be labeled in negative latitudes, not normally?
Why On Earth
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-07T13:38:55.557Z
Most of Antarctica is not shown on the graph, as it goes only from - 75 to 75, and not from - 90 to 90. As for your question, there is a widely used notation called decimal degrees: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal_degrees
Jean-Marie Prival
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-07T14:45:42.137Z
@Jean-MariePrival Alright, so it's as I thought, the positive latitudes are north of equator and the negative ones south of it. Thanks for your answering link.
Why On Earth
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-07T15:15:04.997Z
@JeopardyTempest Thanks for the edit.
Why On Earth
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-07T17:03:30.690Z
([Here is a link to the poster's related question about the ozone distribution](https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/questions/23996/why-on-earth-is-the-ozone-layer-on-the-northern-hemisphere-lower-than-on-the-sou))
JeopardyTempest
<mapping>
What are negative latitudes?
Why On Earth
# What are negative latitudes?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-07-07)

In this image from the [Wikipedia ozone layer page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone_layer) there are positive (normal) and negative latitudes on the bottom axis:

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/sKeOm.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/sKeOm.png)

Are the negative latitudes those north or those south of the equator?

**Tags:** mapping

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Welcome to username_0 Science SE. From the [help center](https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/help/how-to-ask): "Have you thoroughly searched for an answer before asking your question?"  
> **username_0**: @username_1 Thank you. IIRC I've never seen "negative" latitudes being shown anywhere. Latitudes are usually given as North or South, not positive or negative. I would assume the positive latitudes (on the right) in the image are north because that's where most people live and the USA are. OTOH the ozone layer seems lower in the positive ones which would imply the lower temperatures you find in Antarctica. But then why would the northern hemisphere be labeled in negative latitudes, not normally?  
> **username_1**: Most of Antarctica is not shown on the graph, as it goes only from - 75 to 75, and not from - 90 to 90. As for your question, there is a widely used notation called decimal degrees: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal_degrees  
> **username_0**: @username_1 Alright, so it's as I thought, the positive latitudes are north of equator and the negative ones south of it. Thanks for your answering link.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 Thanks for the edit.  
> **username_2**: ([Here is a link to the poster's related question about the ozone distribution](https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/questions/23996/why-on-username_0-is-the-ozone-layer-on-the-northern-hemisphere-lower-than-on-the-sou))  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2022-07-07. Score: 3

The negative latitudes are south.

Just as values to the right of the origin on the x axis and above the origin on the y axis in the [Cartesian plane](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartesian_coordinate_system) are positive, and those down/left are negative, values east/north are very commonly written as positive and those west/south are commonly written as negative. This, for one, allows for continual mathematical representation of latitude and longitude.

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/yzSEWm.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/yzSEWm.png)

Sometimes you [may also see](https://mathematica.stackexchange.com/questions/18150/define-the-range-of-longitude-from-0-360-in-the-world-plot-from-countrydata) longitude labeled from 0° to +360°. This choice can be a benefit to allow Asia and the Pacific Ocean to be more central in a global plot; most applications that plot geographic coordinates will be easiest to setup over a continual domain. But I have never seen anything but negative latitudes for those south of the equator.

Could they be labeled that way? Sure, if you really want to. Just as with angles in a circle in general, latitude and longitude could feasibly be setup over any 360° range, and are truly [periodic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8Db7kqILNI) (to get a repeated map as [OpenStreetMaps still shows at widest zoom as of today](https://i.sstatic.net/fx2mE.png) you'd do 0° to 1080° longitude or such in many plotting programs... longitudes of 270° to 450° would be positive values that should work to get a single repeat of latitude). We happened to settle on the choice of the equator and Prime Meridian as the typical references ([in part Eurocentric indeed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_meridian_(Greenwich)#History)), and the east/north increasing standard; gladly navigation developed contemporaneously with larger mathematics (they kind of spurred each other on), or you could have somewhat differently defined systems, like [bearing versus cartesian angles](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hREmYWBgvUQ), or various unit systems, to make conversion a bit of extra work.

Having east/north is generally simplest as it matches the Cartesian coordinate system.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: I'd add reasoning for why the ozone is at a lower altitude in the NH... if I were certain on it.  I believe if I remember right it's because the polar vortex is very entrenched in the Antarctic versus the Arctic, so there's very little downward mixing by higher wind speeds (and the Arctic actually has more springtime ozone for the same reason -- vortex breakdowns mean more poleward transport). https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.3137/ao.460103 could be a good read. But it may be best to post this aspect as its own question so the focus can be on that and get those with more ozone expertise  
> **username_2**: (For those reading now, the ozone aspect to the question did migrate to [Why on username_0 is the ozone layer on the northern hemisphere lower than on the southern hemisphere?](https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/questions/23996/why-on-username_0-is-the-ozone-layer-on-the-northern-hemisphere-lower-than-on-the-sou))  

---

