I always thought winter happened when the planet was at its furthers point from the sun in its year long rotation around the sun, but then surely the entire planet would decrease and increase in temperature at the same time. So why does each hemisphere heat and cool at complete different times? Does the point caught between the two hemispheres have it’s own unique weather pattern?
In: Physics
Winter and summer do not happen due to differences in the radius of the Earth’s orbit, as you pointed out that wouldn’t let the hemispheres have different seasons at the same time. The reason we have seasons is that the Earth’s axis of rotation is tilted in relation to its orbit. When the north pole of the Earth is tilted towards the sun it is summer in the northern hemisphere and winter in the southern hemisphere. When the south pole is tilted towards the sun it is the opposite.
>Does the point caught between the two hemispheres have it’s own unique weather pattern?
Yes actually. The equator is often said to only have “summer” but actually it goes through all four seasons (though vastly less pronounced) twice per year unlike the rest of the world having only 4 seasons once per year. This doesn’t really help you understand seasons but I think it is an interesting tidbit.
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