If we only change our clocks by one hour, why does the sun set five hours earlier?

Question

-Title-

I’ve just never understood why there’s such a vast difference between summer and winter sunsets. We only change our clock forward / back an hour, but the sun sets at 5, when it use to set at 9?

In: Earth Science

Answer 1

The Equinox’ are the only 2 days every year with exactly the same time of day (12hours day and 12 hours night). From the summer to the winter equinox, the days get shorter because the sun rises later and sets sooner (due to the angle of the earth in relation to the sun. It goes opposite for the southern hemisphere, that’s why they have summer while we have winter). From the winter to the summer, they days start getting longer again.

With the combination of the sun setting sooner every day (about 2 minutes) and the clock going back an hour, the sunset and sunrise vary by about 3-4 hours throughout the year.