Equator: The Most Important Line on Earth (Kiribati, Ecuador, São Tomé) |

There's a lot of lines in this world that claim importance. Property lines and pipelines, road, rail and power lines. This story is about an invisible line that is the most important one on earth. It's the equator, the line that marks the middle of the earth. It's the baseline for all our navigation and it's so much more than that. It's a trail you can follow for 40,000 kilometers and know that the weather will always be fair. North and south of you, temperatures swing, winds howl and waves crash. On the equator, the sun's always with you, shining steady, laying down a ribbon of warmth, beauty and life. Lush like nowhere else. That ribbon ties together magic places. Teeming with surreal creatures. Home to a rainbow of people who don't look or talk like each other. They all share a secret about life that they've learned just by living in paradise. The islands of Kiribati, as they pronounce it here, typify life on the equator. Every day is sunny and mild with a slight breeze. The way of life hasn't changed much for 2,000 years. The nation is made up of 33 tiny islands spread across the Pacific and 100,000 happy people. When they ask me about Kiribati, that's my answer. Kiribati is paradise for me. Kabua John's vision comes from experience. He's an agricultural expert who's traveled in Europe and Asia. And I found out that, like, when you stay there and you don't have work, you're gonna be dying, you know? And if you stay here without, you know, getting the job or you have job, you can still live. You can just go to the sea, collect shellfish, fishing, come back, get coconut, eat breadfruit. Many food available here. We have a very beautiful beach, a white beach, and the sunset, the environment is clear, no pollution, no air pollution. The food we eat is an organic food, which is no harm to our bodies. The people can help each other. When you're in need, you can go to your neighbors and ask for something, give you. When the neighbors in need, they can ask you and you give. But here, the most thing is the love. People love each other and they can, you know, the life here is very social. Money is almost irrelevant here. The few things they need, like flour or cloth, come from selling coconuts. Kabua's job is to supply the seedlings. They also grow bananas and figs. It's not a diverse diet. The genius of the culture is to make many things from one. The whole nation was built on a coconut. It's like a tree of life because we can get a lot of things in coconuts. If you have coconuts in your home or in your land, you can use it for buildings, logs, make logs. You can use as a mat, you can make, you know, you can turn the leaves to your You can make brooms. The leaves can be made into dancing skirts. You soak the coconut husk and dry it in the sun. Roll the fibers and make rope. Not everyone on the equator lives a subsistence lifestyle, but most do live lives of graceful balance. Some say that's because they live on the line that marks the middle of the earth. Our name is Ecuador. It's the only country in the world named for a latitude. That's because of the French geodesic mission in 1736. They came to Ecuador because they knew the equator was here. It was known since the Spanish first arrived because the native people already knew it and the Incas before them. The first geodesic points were on this farm. Those calculations located the equatorial line. The equatorial line was discovered in a country that still bears its name. Cristobal Cobo is a geographer and equator expert. He lives with his family on the site where the equator's coordinates were first discovered. He's dedicated his life to furthering that work. As earth orbits the sun, the two always align along the equator. We now verify that with our computers and satellites. Cristobal discovered that ancient peoples verified it with careful observation. I was trying to understand if all these archaeological sites have any relationship with the astronomy. The red lines are the solstice, equinoxes, the ecliptic axis. Now, for example, Catequilla. Let's go to Catequilla. On top of this hill we have this archaeological site. It's just on the equator, see? Zero degrees, zero minutes, zero seconds here. There is Cayambe volcano. So on top of this archaeological site, there's a circle made of stone as a mosaic that have different alignments. So each alignment is related with some astronomical relationship. Thousands of years ago, the indigenous people located an archaeological site on that spot. The ancients located the equator 3,000 years ago using the two days of equinox that occur each year. In the mountains around here, their descendants still celebrate those special days. Each year on the spring and autumn equinox, the sun passes straight over the equator and all shadows disappear. The Quechua call the spring equinox it means new fire and celebrates the marriage of earth and sun that enables all life. Magdalena Fueres is a village elder who leads the celebration here. Well, I think we do live in a paradise. We have enough to eat, we have different kinds of plants and different kinds of animals. We have fertile soils, we have water. At this time, we're just beginning the Mochunina. It's the new year. It's another time, another era, another cycle. I believe these dates are very important in the connection between the earth and the sun. The sun is a male being. He's a man and the earth is a woman. So in order for there to be life, there has to be a couple. And tomorrow there's a connection between the two and they'll be there to charge us with energy. Look how pretty this corn is. Because the sun is straight above, it's more directly connected to the earth. So there's more energy. It charges the water with energy. And when we have that contact with the water, it gives us more energy. Equatorial people have always celebrated the burst of energy signaled by noon on the spring equinox. It is the moment that defines the equator. But rarely has anyone attempted to capture that moment itself. Just off the west coast of Africa and right on the equator is the island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe. Iranian-American photographer Babak Tafreshi has come here to document the equinox. Every year on March 2021, the sun reaches a point in the sky which is called the vernal equinox or a spring equinox. It's been the most important point in the sky for farmers throughout history from several thousands of years ago because they could mark it to realize the changing of the season. What I'm planning to do is to show that how on the equator during the equinox the sun reaches exactly overhead, the zenith in the sky. And that means all the shadows will disappear at this moment because they shrink, shrink, get smaller and then gone. Just like in Curubás and the mountains of Ecuador, the natural abundance of São Tomé provides a living for its people. Of course I'm here on an assignment to shoot the shadows during the equinox but every trip for me is a classroom, is an education, an exploration. It's been like this through my whole life. So I like to travel because I learn. Babak also likes to teach and the school welcomes his help. Even here the equinox requires explanation. I need you to come here so, you know, all around here. You can sit over there, you're fine. This is the sun in the morning. The sun is rising so all the shadows are quite long. Now look at the shadow. Look, look, look, look, look, look, look. Okay, the shadow is gone. No shadow then it's noon. Curiosity is what makes us different. I mean this is the essential element of human being. Curiosity and you see it most evident in kids wherever you go regardless of country, continent. So this is a shared passion between all the kids in the world and this is probably the most enjoying things you see in a classroom that kids communicate, interact and they try to answer questions and raise new questions. The curiosity of children roams free around here. Most kids living on the equator get a less formal education than those in wealthier lands to the north and south. But that didn't matter much until now. Subsistent societies survive by passing their methods down through generations. In Kiribati, the school's priority is teaching students to harvest the bounty around them. For me this island is paradise. Everyone lives so well, there's so much food. There are bananas, fruits, taro. There you can see the melon we're growing next to us by the small house. Melons and cabbage. It's easy to grow food here. Our livelihood is agriculture. We raise children to farm and not to depend on cargo from the outside. Because sometimes we are affected if there's no cargo from the outside. If ships don't arrive, they can still support themselves with food from Kiribati. Okay, so what is this plant? A kumara. Why are we planting a kumara? What's its use? Because we can get food from it. We can get food from it. What else? And it blocks the heat. It blocks the heat from the sun and it cools the ground. Is that it? Thank you very much. And we clap. One, two, three. These days, teachers also have to make sure students have the skills to get paying jobs because now Kiribati needs things that only money can buy. We hope these kids will be good farmers and will find work because we have a big problem now with drinking water. So we encourage kids to both work and to farm and get further educated. We hope that one day they can afford to buy a rain tank for their home. Now that we have this problem, we must raise funds to buy tanks and pumps and such in order to get drinking water. As the earth gets hotter, people on the equator feel it most intensely. So it cools down the taro plants. Every three months, you add more. As long as the mud is moist and cool, they will survive. It's been getting hotter in Kiribati. In terms of our well-being, if our taro is still alive, we are OK. But we do notice it's getting hotter. Global warming has given Kiribati two kinds of water problems. The islands now have long droughts. Farmers struggle to keep their crops from drying out. Meanwhile, the sea is rising and salt water is slowly seeping into the island's wells, poisoning the shallow freshwater supply. Before, when we tried to make, like, sowing the seeds, most of them, they germinate. But now, half of it, or like 60 percent, they germinate and the rest can't germinate. I think caused by the increasing of that temperature, long drought. The whole year last year, from the beginning of the year until the end. In my experience, there's a decreasing number of productions. Because before, when there's a long drought, you know, most of our breadfruit, they, you know, the fruit, they fall down, you know. They can't know their fruit. We can feel sometimes it's too hot. You try to sleep in the daytime, but it's really hot. It's too hot. You know, you need the fan or, you know, something to make you, like, go. Almost 300 years after the equator was officially mapped here, most tourists still do not really understand what it is or what it means. Cristobal Cobo's life's work is to explain just that. The equatorial line is the longest latitude between the North Pole and the South Pole. So that's the middle of the world. Quetzal means the middle of the world. I am focused on everything regarding the equatorial line. It's historic, geographic, astronomic, and geodesic aspects. If you are on the equator, the sun is six months to the north and six months to the south, if you are on the equator. These diagonals draw the eight-pointed sun star. This model of the solar clock explains how it works. The equator line, the equinoxes, east or orient, which comes from the word oriens, which means where the sun rises. To the occident, the west, is where the sun sets. The central post forms a shadow in the morning to the west, indicating the hours of the day, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. The perpendicular of east-west is north and south, the North Pole and the South Pole. South, or sur, comes from the Hindu word surya, which means sun, because the northern countries saw the sun in the south. It's summer for the north, but winter for the south. And six months later, we have the sunrise sunset to the south on the summer solstice over the Tropic of Capricorn, so it shines over the southern hemisphere. That's why it's summer for the south, but winter for the north. So that's how the seasons work. For us, as terrestrial observers, the most permanent and constant spot in the cosmos is the rise of the sun on the equinoxes. Those are the only two days of the year, the March and September equinox, that provide us with the only fixed spot to determine, specifically and constantly, a cardinal point on Earth. Only on the equator we have the sun overhead on the equinoxes. So that is the rational perspective we should have when we view the world. Our identity has been shaped by that perspective. For Cristobal, the only way to truly understand life on Earth is to center your viewpoint on the equator. People have celebrated the spring equinox for thousands of years. The Quechua of Ecuador call it Mushuk Nina, which means new fire. Village elder Magdalena Furez says it's a day to remember what is truly sacred. At this time, we're just beginning the Mushuk Nina. For us, the most spiritual part is making the connection between water, Earth, and human being. We pray to all the elements of nature, to our ancestors, to the God we believe in. With this offering we've come to make, this offering we've prepared together, I want to share this moment of joy and happiness. After death, as in life with all of you. Our holy water is born here. As human beings, water is the most important thing. In this time of year, we'll be cleaning out our negative energy. The water will provide us with new, positive energies, so we can be better people, have better relationships with each other, with our community, our family. We are learning, as people, to connect with nature. We pass that on through practice. So that the children start to love nature, our plants, our water, and we plant more plants. So the children will assume responsibility and say, this is for our tomorrow, and not for today. A religious experience for some is a scientific phenomenon for others. And a complex one at that. Time-lapse photography expert, Babak Tefreshi, has traveled all the way here, and has been waiting for days for his one chance to capture the drama of the equinox, when all earthly shadows will disappear. But there is a paradox in this place that could ruin his mission. The equator is luxuriant with life, because it gets more sunlight than anywhere on earth. All that heat makes water constantly evaporate and gather as clouds. So there's lots of days on the equator when you can barely glimpse the sun at all. The weather experts confirm that this is the worst time of the year to travel in Sao Tomé, if you're looking for clear skies. But of course, I'm here for the vernal equinox, so there is no other option. I have to deal with the rainy season, but there is always chance in tropical weather to find clear sky after rain. It's always amazing to be on the equator because, you know, one feet on the southern hemisphere, another feet in the north. So this is probably the most attractive part of the equator for most of the visitors. But if you look around, the equator has so much more to offer. Every bit of the soil here is just filled with life, you know, insects, animals, birds, everywhere. Time-lapse photography, it's very critical to plan ahead of time, because when you are leaving the camera on a certain exposure and aperture and setting, if you made a wrong decision, and this is just one time experience, it's gone. You came all the way, thousands of kilometers to here, and you just lose the opportunity because of the wrong setting. His location scouted and his equipment in order, Babak can now only hope for favorable skies. As the famously stable climate of the equator starts to change, people face challenges they never imagined. The Kiribati have lived off the sea for millennia. Suddenly, it's rising and turning against them. Every high tide flattens more of their homes. This used to be our place, our buia, or bedroom, and our toilet there. We lived here a long time. But when the king tide came, it started climbing further up under our buia. One time we were all sleeping and our buia fell down. We stood up and rebuilt it. We did it every time until we just couldn't manage. Our house was lost. The tide came up into our bedroom. Everybody here wants to understand how their lives are going to change. Okay, now answer these questions. Number one, what is climate change? What is the climate change? Number two, how the climate was changed. From the people do things from the world. Number three, give three examples of climate change. Number one, odds. Number two, cool. Number three, windy. And number four, list down four impacts of climate change. Number one, strong waves. Two, more rainfall. Number three, heavy rain. Number four, strong wind. Number five, why Kiribati always hot and winds? Number six, show the picture of an equator. And number seven, why how island Kiribati cannot face the impact of climate change? Because it is a low highland. Thank you. Okay, three big claps. One, two, boom. We don't know what life would be like elsewhere. Here we plant trees and they grow easily. It's easy to live here. We don't have the means to help ourselves because our island is so low. So we leave it to our government or foreign governments to decide if they will take us. But we would be sad to leave our islands because we don't suffer here. They're threatened by countries to the north and south, whose people couldn't find Kiribati on a map. Which is one reason people on the equator think we ought to redraw our maps. On each spring and autumn equinox, at precisely noon on the equator, our common view of earth is shown to be fiction. In the subconscious mind of the world population, north is above and south is below. But that doesn't exist. That's just a belief. In libraries you are going to see this sphere like this. It's just an historical custom without sense that confuses us. The north should be at the north, the south at the south. That's how the world rotates. Now many people always told us that we can put it any way we want. From the space there are no directions. We can see like this, like this. But we are not on the space, we are on the earth. And that's how we should observe it. Now, remember this is just a plastic globe. The world is here and nobody can change that. So that's how we should learn. That's how we should teach to the new generations. As a human being, as a citizen of the world, I question that imposed education of the north above the south. No one is above anyone in nature. All nations of the world have their place. Equator comes from Aequator, which is an ancient Germanic word that comes from the Latin Aikitas, meaning equality. Dear daughter, these are the customs that our grandparents had. Receive the blessing and all the positive energy from our ancestors. Water is life. Earth is life. Wind is life. And Father Sun completes our lives. One day all human beings will share an equal view of the world. Based on nature, on light, on the sun, on astronomy, on the universe, on knowledge. You, us, everyone will have a view of the world in harmony, in balance. East is a synonym for birth. In Latin, it means where the sun is born. So it's a new view of the sunrise, of reviving, of rebirth, and of sharing. The equator line is the line that unites. It is the line of balance and of harmony. From one equinox to the next, the earth goes halfway around the sun. In this series, we spend that season circling the equator, viewing the world in a brighter light.