The amount of sunlight on a given hemisphere is the cause of the seasons. IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE: The effect is of course reversed in the Southern Hemisphere.
An interesting and essential point,
though, is the lag time involved. In the north, there is the same amount
of daylight on Nov 21 as there is on Jan 21. But it is much colder in
January than November. This is because of the damping nature of the
atmosphere and the ground, which retain heat or cold. Instead of looking
just at the amount of daylight on any one day, we must look at the amount
of daylight averaged over the last few weeks. In this case, one month
before Nov 21 is Oct 21, which has much more daylight. One month before
Jan 21 is Dec 21, which has the least
daylight. Hence the colder weather in January.
On the equinoxes (March 21 and Sept 21) the tilt, extended out from the poles, is tangent to the orbit around the sun. The effect is that the sun's path across the sky follows the equator, and day and night is of equal length in both northern and southern hemispheres. COMPLEX INTELLIGENCE THROUGH COMPLEX ENVIRONMENT |