text: is bermuda a tropical island? so why does this island look tropical if it is only  and only 1000 miles east of south carolina.i know it is north of the tropic of cancer. likewise, why does northeastern us run parallel to southern europe but the former is remarkedly colder in temperature? bermuda is a tropical island because of it's climate.  to consider something as "tropical" doesn't necessarily depend on how far it's located from the tropics itself.  the different in temperature across the atlantic is determined by the current in the northern atlantic.  it runs clockwise from the coast of africa, to the caribbean, up the east coast of the us, and towards western europe.  latitude wise, england is farther north than new england, but temperatures are similar due to the climate brought upon by the atlantic current.  once the current heads south towards southern europe, it starts to cool.  think of the same situation for the west coast of the us, which is cooler on average than the philippines or japan across the pacific.