Why is summer hotter than winter?

Question

I have to write a paper and i'm finding to many varying answers.

Which ones are right?

The Sun's rays are more perpendicular in the summer.
The Earth is closer to the Sun in summer.
The Earth's axis is tilted away from the sun in summer.
The Sun is up in the sky for longer in the summer
The Sun has a slight yearly change in the light it emits.

Answer 1

The Sun's rays are more perpendicular in the summer. True, and the main reason summers are warmer than winters.

The Earth is closer to the Sun in summer IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE, but this is not why southern summers are warmer (otherwise it would be summer in the northern and southern hemispheres at the same time. The Earth is closest to the Sun in December, northern winter)

The Earth's axis is tilted away from the sun in summer. The axis points two ways. The pole of the hemisphere experiencing summer, northern or southern, points at the Sun, while the other pole points away.
.
The Sun is up in the sky for longer in the summer. True and combined with the incidence angle of the Sun's rays adds to the extra heat we experience in the summer.

The Sun has a slight yearly change in the light it emits. More like an 11 year cycle with other longer cycles thrown in, but not a reason for summer-winter changes on an annual basis.

Answer 2

In a year,earth receives a maximum solar radiation in the equatorial region and a minimum quantity of it in the polar regions.This is mainly due to the inclination of sun's rays.The inclination is more over the polar regions and hence the polar regions are always cold.On the other hand,the inclination is comparatively less over the equatorial regions and in fact the sun shines exactly overhead twice in a year.So, the hotness is mainly determined by the inclination of the sun's rays.
So , the answer is' The sun's rays are more perpendicular in the summer'.
The second and third statements are true for southern hemisphere only.The fourth one is not correct because, eventhough the sun shines for six months continuously on poles still they remain cold throughout the year.The fifth one is irrelevent.

Answer 3

For a northern latitude of 40 degrees (typical of North America) the Sun's noon position ranges from about 40+23=63 degrees South of straight-up in Late December to about 40-23=17 degrees South of straight-up in late June. That is why it is hotter in the summer than the winter. (Note: The Earth's spin axis is tilted by 23 degrees with respect to its circular orbit around the Sun; that is where the 23 degrees comes in.)

(Cut and pasted straight from the web-site of the source listed below)

Answer 4

Whew! You are making me go back to astronomy 101 from college girl!

Look up equinoxes. solstaces, and the northern and southern hemispheres.

It also has to do with the position of the sun in the sky during the summer and winter.

Answer 5

in the summer, your hemisphere (whichever your in) tilts toward the sun, in winter your hemisphere tilts away from the sun