Earth Science was never my favorite subject,
so that may explain why I've labored under a misconception
about the seasons all these years.
photo courtesy of morguefile.com
I thought the reason we experienced winter was
because the earth was pointing away from the sun.
Whoever was on the "dark side" got winter
and whoever was on the sun side got summer.
Apparently not.
I found this junior school web site from the United Kingdom:
and it does a good job explaining the facts for those of us
who lack keen scientific minds
or who didn't pay attention during Earth Science class.
The reason for the earth's seasons
is that sometimes the sun is higher in the sky
because of the earth's tilt (summer),
giving the rays more surface area to spread out;
and it is lower in the sky in the winter,
having fewer opportunities to spread its rays
over a larger surface.
Also, in winter night falls before thorough warming can occur.
photo courtesy of morguefile.com
In short, when the north pole leans toward the sun,
it's summer in the northern hemisphere;
when it leans away from the sun during its 365 1/4 day revolution,
it is summer in the southern hemisphere.
So paradoxically, the sun is closer to the earth in winter
and further away in summer.
Since the sun is closer from December to March,
it seems peculiar that a good patch of sunshine
should be so hard to find in the winter.
My husband recently played golf and came upon his friend
the ubiquitous golf fox.
The golf fox was sunning himself on a bed of pine needles.
From the look on his pointy little face,
he wasn't in the mood to share his piece of the sun.
photo by David L. Breeding 2013
It looks like the Golf Fox and I are kindred spirits;
we both know there's nothing better than taking a nap
while enveloped in warm sunlight,
even if the winter sun won't last very long.
<>
No comments:
Post a Comment