[tz] Time zones in the news

[Paul Eggert]

On 01/02/2015 02:39 PM, Jonathan Leffler wrote:
> why is it possible to decide when the New Year starts at the South 
> Pole but not at the North Pole?

Because the South Pole is inhabited, and has a local time (same as its 
supply base McMurdo).  The North Pole is in international waters, where 
the convention is to use meridians to delimit time zones, and that 
convention breaks down at the pole.

You can see images of past New Year's Eve celebrations at Amundsen-Scott 
here:

http://www2.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/pole-gear.html

I can sympathize with those photos, as right now I'm working in an 
unheated office -- UCLA shuts off the heat during winter break to save 
money.