Seasons occur on the Earth because of the tilt of the Earth's axis. Because the Earth's spin is not exactly aligned with the Earth's orbit around the sun, the Sun sometimes shines directly over the nothern hemisphere, and other times shines directly over the southern hemisphere. For instance, the sun reaches its most northerly position (the tropic of cancer) on June 21. This is called the "summer solstice." If you were standing on the tropic of cancer on June 21, the sun would be directly overhead at noon. This is the first day of summer in the northern hemisphere, and the first day of winter in the southern hemisphere. Because the sun is shining more directly in the north than in the south, the weather is warmer in the north in June. In December, the opposite happens. The sun is over the tropic of Capricorn, and is shining directly at the southern hemisphere. So December is summer in Australia and Brazil, but winter in America, Europe, and Asia.
Some people believe that summer is when the Earth is closest to the sun. This is not true. In fact, the Earth is farthest from the sun in early July, and nearest the sun in January. Because these differences in distance are so small however, they hardly affect the seasons at all.
2007-04-10 15:59:41
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answer #1
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answered by Anonymous
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First, you're turning out to be revolution and rotation at a loss for words. Rotation is the spinning of an merchandise on it really is axis, at the same time as revolution is the spinning of an merchandise round a center merchandise. The rotation of the Earth does no longer reason seasons, yet extremely evening and day. And the elliptical orbit does no longer influence seasons in the global. trust it or no longer, once you're contained in the northern hemisphere, the sunlight is amazingly closer contained in the iciness than contained in the summer season. If our orbit replaced right into a suitable circle, lets nevertheless have the 4 seasons.
2016-12-03 19:58:01
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answer #2
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answered by rosenzweig 4
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The Earth is tilted on its axis so, for that reason, as it makes its annual revolution around the sun, the sun's direct rays move from the Tropic of Cancer (the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere and winter solstice in the southern hemisphere) to the Equator (the vernal and autumnal equinoxes) to the Tropic of Capricorn (the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere and summer solstice in the southern hemisphere). The Earth is actually nearer to the sun when it is winter in the northern hemisphere.
2007-04-10 16:06:09
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answer #3
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answered by Lynci 7
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Main cause is the 23.4 degree axial tilt of the earth, that makes light from the sun hit the ground at shallow angles during local winter.
2007-04-10 15:57:12
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answer #4
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answered by Vincent G 7
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The main reason is the tilt of the earth's axis with respect to the plane of its orbit around the sun.
2007-04-10 15:58:25
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answer #5
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answered by Arasan 7
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