Earth Seasons

Scientific reasons for Earth s seasons
Our planet s tilt dictates cycle of summer and winter

By Paige Williams
msnbc.com
updated 8:07 p.m. ET, Fri., June 18, 2010
The seasons are a powerful force in our lives. They affect the activities we do,
the foods we crave, the clothes we wear and quite often, the moods we are in. T
he seasons officially change once again Monday, with summer beginning in the Nor
thern Hemisphere and winter starting in the south.
What is it that causes the change in seasons?
The ability to predict the seasons by tracking the rising and setting points of
the sun throughout the year was key to survival in ancient times. The Babylonian
s, the Maya and other cultures developed complex systems for monitoring seasonal
shifts. But it took centuries more to unravel the science behind the seasons.
Nicolai Copernicus (1473-1543) radically changed our understanding of astronomy
when he proposed that the sun, not Earth, was the center of the solar system. Th
is led to our modern understanding of the relationship between the sun and Earth
.
We now know that Earth orbits the sun elliptically and, at the same time, spins
on an axis that is tilted relative to its plane of orbit. This means that differ
ent hemispheres are exposed to different amounts of sunlight throughout the year
. Because the sun is our source of light, energy and heat, the changing intensit
y and concentration of its rays give rise to the seasons of winter, spring, summ
er and fall.
Solstices and equinoxes
The seasons are marked by solstices and equinoxes astronomical terms that relate
to Earth s tilt.
The solstices mark the points at which the poles are tilted at their maximum tow
ard or away from the sun. This is when the difference between the daylight hours
and the nighttime hours is most acute. The solstices occur each year on June 20
or 21 and Dec. 21 or 22, and represent the official start of the summer and win
ter seasons.
The vernal equinox and autumnal equinox herald the beginning of spring and fall,
respectively. At these times of the year, the sun appears to be directly over E
arth s equator, and the lengths of the day and the night are equal over most of th
e planet.
On March 20 or 21 of each year, the Northern Hemisphere reaches the vernal equin
ox and enjoys the signs of spring. At the same time, the winds turn colder in th
e Southern Hemisphere as the autumnal equinox sets in.
The year's other equinox occurs on Sept. 22 or 23, when summer fades to fall in
the north, and winter s chill starts giving way to spring in the south.
From year to year, there is always some variability in the equinoxes and solstic
es because of the way Earth's changing tilt matches up with its orbit around the
sun. This year, the precise moment of the June solstice comes at 7:28 a.m. ET M
onday. That's the moment when the sun's apparent position in the sky is at its f
arthest northern extent, as seen from the point on Earth's equator directly faci
ng the sun at that time.
Effect on climate
Here s how the seasonal change affects the weather: Around the time of the June so
lstice, the North Pole is tilted toward the sun and the Northern Hemisphere is s
tarting to enjoy summer. The density of the solar radiation is higher because it
's coming from directly overhead in other words, the sun's rays are concentrated
over a smaller surface area. The days are longer, too, meaning that more radiat
ion is absorbed in northern climes during the 24-hour cycle. Another factor that
may come into play is that the radiation takes a somewhat shorter path through
the energy-absorbing atmosphere before striking the earth.
At the same time that the Northern Hemisphere is entering summer, the South Pole
is tilted away from the sun, and the Southern Hemisphere is starting to feel th
e cold of winter. The sun s glancing rays are spread over a greater surface area a
nd must travel through more of the atmosphere before reaching the earth. There a
re also fewer hours of daylight in a 24-hour period.
The situations are reversed in December, when it s the Southern Hemisphere that ba
sks in the most direct rays of the sun, while the Northern Hemisphere receives l
ess dense solar radiation for shorter periods of time.
Although the solstices represent the pinnacles of summer and winter with respect
to the intensity of the sun s rays, they do not represent the warmest or coldest
days. This is because temperature depends not only on the amount of heat the atm
osphere receives from the sun, but also on the amount of heat it loses due to th
e absorption of this heat by the ground and ocean.
It is not until the ground and oceans absorb enough heat to reach equilibrium wi
th the temperature of the atmosphere that we feel the coldest days of winter or
hottest days of summer.

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Scientific reasons for Earth s seasons

Our planet s tilt dictates cycle of summer and winter

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