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Environmental Physics

The Earth's axis is tilted at an angle of approximately 23.5 degrees from perpendicular to its orbital plane around the sun. This tilt causes the seasons by changing which hemisphere receives more direct sunlight throughout the year. The seasons are caused not by changes in the Earth's distance from the sun, but by the tilt of the Earth's axis, which remains fixed as the Earth revolves around the sun. In June, the North Pole is tilted toward the sun, making it summer in the Northern Hemisphere. In December, the South Pole is tilted toward the sun, creating summer in the Southern Hemisphere and winter in the North.

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Suresh Senanayake
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67 views1 page

Environmental Physics

The Earth's axis is tilted at an angle of approximately 23.5 degrees from perpendicular to its orbital plane around the sun. This tilt causes the seasons by changing which hemisphere receives more direct sunlight throughout the year. The seasons are caused not by changes in the Earth's distance from the sun, but by the tilt of the Earth's axis, which remains fixed as the Earth revolves around the sun. In June, the North Pole is tilted toward the sun, making it summer in the Northern Hemisphere. In December, the South Pole is tilted toward the sun, creating summer in the Southern Hemisphere and winter in the North.

Uploaded by

Suresh Senanayake
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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11.

5 EARTHS CLIMATES AND SEASONS

The Earths axis of rotation is not at right angles to its orbit. It is tilted to the right by about 23.
This tilt makes a huge difference to the Earths climate.
North Pole
Latitude and climate. Lines of latitude are Arctic Circle, 66.6N
imaginary lines parallel to the equator. Latitude
is measured in degrees north or south. The Tropic of Cancer, 23.5N
equator is 0 and the two poles are 90 north or
south. The most important lines of latitude are Equator, 0
shown in the diagram on the right. Tropic of Capricorn, 23.5S
Near the equator, between the tropics of Antarctic Circle, 66.6S
Cancer and Capricorn, the sun is almost
straight overhead every day. This region has a hot,
Why is the sun hotter at the equator? tropical climate. There are no summer and winter
The diagrams show the suns rays seasons, and day and night are roughly the same
hitting the Earth at the equator (A) and length all year. The regions north of the Arctic Circle
in the temperate region (B). Near the and south of the Antarctic Circle have polar climates
equator (i) the suns rays pass through with long, very cold winters and short, mild summers.
less air, so less heat is absorbed, and In summer there are days when the sun is still visible
(ii) the heat is concentrated on a much at midnight, although it gives only a little heat. And in
smaller area of the ground. winter there are long nights when the sun never rises!
Finally, the regions between the tropical and polar
regions have temperate climates with warm summers
A B and cool winters. In summer, the days are longer than
the nights and in winter, nights are longer than days.
The seasons. Study the diagram below. With your
finger, follow the Earth as it orbits around the sun. The
orbit is almost circular so the Earths distance from the sun does not change much. The seasons
have nothing to do with the small changes of distance from the sun. Notice particularly that the tilt
of the Earths axis does
not change. Now focus on
what happens on the 21st 21st March
of March every year. On
this date, the Earths axis
is tilted neither towards
the sun nor away from it
and the sun shines 21st December
straight down on the
equator. Now move on 21st June
three months. Every June,
the Earths axis is tilted
towards the sun so it
shines straight down on
the Tropic of Cancer. Now
it is mid-summer in the
northern hemisphere.
Notice that, as the Earth
spins, the North Pole
remains exposed to the 23rd September
sun so that daylight there
lasts for 24 hours. At the
same time, the southern hemisphere is tilted away from the sun so it is mid-winter there. As the
Earth spins, the South Pole remains hidden from the sun so the night there lasts for 24 hours.
Moving on around the orbit again, in September the situation is the same as in March. The sun is
over the equator again. And finally, in December every year, the Earths axis is tilted away from
the sun. The sun is straight over the Tropic of Capricorn. Now it is mid-summer in the southern
hemisphere and mid-winter in the northern hemisphere.
1. Draw a diagram of the Earth showing the axial tilt.
Mark the poles and the tropical, temperate and polar
regions. Where is the land of the midnight sun?
2. Explain in your own words why, in December, it is
summer in the southern hemisphere and winter in
the northern hemisphere.

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