Why are some countries a day behind/ahead others if time moves at the same rate everywhere?

Question

Why are some countries a day behind/ahead others if time moves at the same rate everywhere?

In: Earth Science

Answer 1

Timezones are just a measure of where the sun is in relation to the person that lives there. 12pm est is when the sun is above New York/ Florida. 12pm Pacific is when the sun is above California. Since the sun rises over New York first, their ‘day’ starts 4 hours earlier than California. But ‘time’ is the same. It just the way we measure their local time zone that is different.