why is it winter when the earth is closer to the sun and summer when it is further away?

Answer 1

Though the earth is closer to the sun in the winter, the angle at which the rays hit the earth changes due to the position of earth.The rays aren't hitting the earth's surface as directly as they would in the summer, so it isn't as warm in the winter.

Answer 2

She has it right, the northern hemisphere has winter closer to the sun.

In my personal opinion, if the earth may have been going in a perfect circle around the sun originally. If something were to hit the earth (asteroid) it would hav jarred the orbit and then make the orbit elliptical.

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When Earth is closest to the sun, about January 3, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the sun. Thus, it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere and summer in the Southern Hemisphere.

When the Earth is farthest from the sun, around July 4, the situation is reversed and the Northern Hemisphere tilts toward the sun. At this time it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere and winter in the Southern Hemisphere.

Answer 3

Seasons are not related to the Earth's Perihelion and Aphelion, but they are related to the amount of insolation that the earth recieves per unit area.

The hemisphere tilted away from the sun is the winter hemisphere. The radiation recieved from the sun is less intense because it comes in at such an oblique angle.

The summer hemisphere recieves light much more directly. Because the concentration of insolation is greater, this hemisphere is warmer.

This also means that when the Northern Hemisphere is in summer, the Southern Hemisphere is in winter. Since the Earth is closest to the sun on January 4 of each year, perihelion would occur during Southern Hemisphere Summer.

Answer 4

It is not the earths distance from the sun which changes but as several people have said it's the tilt. The earths distance from the sun does not change much.
In winter the earth is tilted away from the sun. If you take a torch and shine the beam on a wall at an angle it makes an ellipse shape so the beam of light is spread over a bigger area than if it was pointing straight at the wall. more area means the energy from the torch (sun) is spread out more and therefore heats the wall (earth) less.
sorted.

Answer 5

The reason for seasons is the tilt of the Earth's axis.

We call an imaginary line running through the Earth from pole to pole, that Earth's axis. We say that the Earth spins on its axis, one spin being 1 day. But the Earth's axis is not perpendicular to the plane of the solar system. Instead, it is tilted 23.5 degrees. It is this tilt that provides us with seasonal changes. The best way to understand it is to understand the effects as we see them from Earth.

Observers in North America notice that the Sun is higher in the sky in summer than in winter. These changes in position result from an apparent motion of the Sun north and south of the celestial equator (a projection of the Earth's equator into space.) This apparent motion is the result of that 23.5 degree axial tilt.

On the Autumn and Spring Equinoxes the Sun crosses the celestial equator. One these days there is an equal amount of day and night. The Sun rises due east and sets due west.

As the summer solstice approaches on June 21st, the days get longer and the Sun rises higher in the sky at noon. It is also rising and setting further north of east and west. At this time, the northern hemisphere is pointing toward the Sun.

As the winter solstice approaches on December 21st, the days are shorter and the Sun is lower in the sky at noon. The sun is also rising and setting south of east and west. During this time, the Earth is pointed away from the Sun.

Answer 6

To a first approximation the climate of the hemispheres is related to the tilt of the earth, not the distance from the sun (which is a small change). Get a ball, spin on an axis and hold towards a light bulb. You will get the idea

Answer 7

This is because winter is not determined by the closeness of the sun but by the angle at which its light strikes the earth. As we are tilted, this effect varies according to how far we are from a pole.

Answer 8

Caused by the tilt of the earth darling......even though further away in summer, the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the sun....hence the summer

Answer 9

Its not. Its much more to do with the axis of the earth and how the suns rays fall on it. Its easy to demonstrate with a globe and a light source, very hard to explain in words. Its why we get summer and winter solstices in differnt hemispheres basically.

Answer 10

You have it wrong. It's winter when the earth is furthest away from tne sun in the northern hemisphere and summer when the earth is nearest to the sun. In the southern hemisphere it is the oposite.