Does it seem as if the days are getting shorter?

Question

Last week the sun set at 8:30 and tonight it seemed to be earlier than that.

Answer 1

Actually, the days aren't getting shorter, there's still 24 hours in a day. It's the daylight hours that are getting shorter. And yes, they will continue to do so until Dec 21 (winter solstice) where the daylight hours will gradually start to become longer until Jun 21 (summer solstice). I could explain why this occurs if you are interested. It would be a fairly lengthy explanation but not difficult to grasp.

Answer 2

Here's how it works. To visualize this well, you need to draw a graph, and I'll tell you how to do it. What we'll end up with will answer your question, and it might be something you've never thought of before.

Draw a long horizontal "time line" on a sheet of paper, and divide it into six equal parts. Counting the two ends, you'll have seven hash marks on your line. Label those marks, beginning on the left, as x = 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12.

About an inch or two above the line will be height y = 1, and an inch or two below the line will be height y = -1.

Now plot these (x,y) points: "vernal equinox" (0,0); "summer solstice" (2,1); "autumnal equinox" (4,0); "winter solstice" (6,-1); "vernal equinox" (8,0); "summer solstice" (10,1); "autumnal equinox" (12,0).

Draw a smooth curve (a sine curve, if you know what that is) through the seven points. This curve shows the length of daylight for an eighteen-month period.

Between each pair of hash marks is a three-month season, Spring runs from 0 to 2, and the days are getting longer, as you can see.

But although we're accustomed to thinking in terms of the four seasons -- spring, summer, fall, winter -- there's a different, and perhaps unfamiliar, way to think about it, and that's what we're going to do now.

On your timeline, find the middle of each season, and put a hash mark there. The middle of spring, for example, is halfway between 0 and 2. Make a mark there and label it 1. Similarly, fill in all the odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 halfway between the evens on your timeline.

Now locate the point on the curve above or below the odd numbers, and put dots there. For points 1, 3, 9, and 11 (spring and summer), the dots go above the timeline; while for points 5 and 7 (fall and winter), the dots go below the timeline.

If you did this carefully, all those dots you just put in line up horizontally.

Connect adjacent pairs of dots 1 and 3, 5 and 7, 9 and 11, with short horizontal lines. Shade in the areas between these lines and the curve lieing above or below.

Okay, now we have an alternative way of looking at the four seasons. From the middle of spring until midsummer, we have three months of long days and short nights. From midsummer until the middle of autumn, we have three months when the days keep getting shorter and the nights longer. From mid-autumn until mid-winter, we have three months of short days and long nights. And from the middle od winter until the middle of spring, we have three months when the days keep getting longer and the nights shorter.

This gives us al alternative four seasons: lengthening days, long days, shortening days, and long nights.

The summer solstice -- the longest day in the year -- is in June, so the season of long days is May, June, and July. The season of shortening days is August, September, and October. The season of long nights is November, December, and January, And the season of lengthening days is February, March, and April.

Your observation in yur question is right on target. At midsummer, early in August, the days really begin getting shorter. During May, June, and July, there isn't much difference, but by the end of August, the days will be noticeably shorter.

There are some "holidays" to mark these changes of season. Can you guess them? Well, Halloween is at the end of October when the days have gotten short. Early darkness on Halloween is important. Ground Hog Day is at the beginning of February when it's time for the long nights to end, And May Day (observed everywhere but in the U.S.) celebrates the arrival of long days and short nights.

For some reason -- psychological, I think -- there is no corresponding "holiday" at the end of July or the beginning of August. I say "psychological" because I don't think people want to acknowledge that the season of long days and short nights is coming to an end. They'd like "summertime" to last forever.

So that's the whole story. Even if you didn't draw the timeline, maybe you got the idea. In many respects, this way of thinking about the seasons is a lot more useful than the traditional way. May, June, and July (the long days) have a lot more in common than July, August, and September (the summer months).

Answer 3

Yes, the days are getting shorter. They will continue to do so until December. Then the days will start getting longer.

Answer 4

That's because it was. We already had the longest day (in the Northern Hemisphere) and the days will keep getting shorter until the shortest day in December.

Answer 5

Hey dude...the days BETTER be gettin' shorter or something ain't workin' right. On the first day of summer the days are supposed to get shorter.

Answer 6

Yes, they are. We are approaching fall and winter when the days will be the shortest and nights the longest. South of the equator, everything is different, including the seasons. They have summer in our winter and winter in our summer and etc.

Answer 7

In the Northern hemisphere..
Starting with Dec. 21st. the shortest day..
They get longer until June 21st. the longest day..
Then they start getting shorter again until back to
December 21st, the shortest day..
Every year...

Answer 8

the days r getting shorter. after june 21st, the days get shorter.

Answer 9

If it troubles you, measure your days from sunrise to sunrise. The sun is rising a little later each day.

Answer 10

It's just because it is getting closer to the Winter Solstice.