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Hi,
We are having a major discussion at work regarding what brings winter to the northern hemisphere. Is it 100% the tilt of the earth's axis or 100% the earth's distance from the sun (we all agree that the earth's orbit is elliptical not round) or do both the tilt and distance play a role.
Regards
Kolin P.
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Those fun discussions at work are good to get your mind going. Of course you sometimes have to get an outside opinion to help you solve the issue at hand.
What brings us the seasons is the earth's tilt. Yes, you are right that the earth's orbit is elliptical, not circular. As the earth moves around the sun it is tilted on its axis 23.5 degrees to be exact. The tilt doesn't change, meaning, the axis stays in the same spot, it actually looks like this / . That's a rudimentary example, but you get the idea.
If the earth is always tilted on the axis, as it moves around the sun, the Northern Hemisphere will sometimes point toward the sun and sometimes away. Here in Utah (Northern Hemisphere) we point toward the sun in the summer time. We are getting maximum sun and warmer temperatures. In the winter, the Northern Hemisphere points away from the sun, it's cold here and summertime in Australia.
As the earth moves around the sun, we're actually CLOSER to the sun in the winter time! But because in the Northern Hemisphere we are pointed away, it doesn't help us out. So the tilt is the big factor in determing our seasons.
A link on the right has a cool diagram of how all this works.
Answered by KSL Meteorologist Dina Freedman.
