2007-01-02 04:31:37 · 4 answers · asked by bykert 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Earth Sciences & Geology
It has to do with the angle sunshine hits your area of the globe.
Think of the earth as a large ball. If you are at the sides of the ball, such that you are almost on the dark side of the ball (with respect to the sun), then the sunlight hits the ground at a shallow angle and has had to travel through a lot of air to get there. Both weaken the amount of heat transmitted to the ground. The angle at which the light hits the ground means the same energy is spread over a larger (i.e. higher angle, in winter) or smaller (i.e. smaller angle, in summer) area.
Now, think of being at the point closest to the sun - the sunlight would be falling straight down and traveling through the least air to get to you. The ground would absorb the most heat in this case.
The tilt of the axis means that during the summer, your half of the planet is getting the most "direct" sunlight and has longer days. Both contribute to heating.
During the winter, the other hemisphere is getting the most direct sunlight and yours would be getting the least direct and more spread out (per unit of light) sunlight. i.e. colder.
Needless to say, spring and fall are transitional periods with intermediate heat absorption.
The heat/cold of the area tends to lag behind the directness of the sun because of the time it takes for the region to heat or cool.
2007-01-02 04:34:27 · answer #1 · answered by Radagast97 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Because it is a contant tilt and goes around the sun then the angel in which the sun hits the earth is ever changing within a small amount from the equator.
The northern hemisphere has winter in Dec-March whereas the southern hemisphere has winter in May-august.
It is because teh earth tilts on it's axis.
If there were no tilt, there would be no season.
To get a visual explanation use a flashlight, hold a globe in a dark room (tilted of course) adn cirle it around the flashlight and notice how the light will change from the northern hemisphere, going through equator half way, and then in southern hemisphere. Then after 360 degrees (all the way around the sun ) the cycle will continue.
2007-01-02 12:39:55 · answer #2 · answered by Rachel 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The tilting of the earth determines the angle that the sun light hits a given area of the earth the less the angle the warmer the season.
2007-01-02 12:37:43 · answer #3 · answered by Pat B 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the light coming to the earth-------changes the period of summer winter, sprin atumn and not in all places is the same
2007-01-02 12:36:13 · answer #4 · answered by kyriacos d 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋