– Why is winter AFTER the shortest day of the year?

Question

I always thought the shorter day means the earth is further away from the sun, so why is all of winter after that point? (Similarly with summer).

In: Physics

Answer 1

1. Winter is not caused by the distance to the Sun, in fact we’re closest to the sun in early January. Seasons are caused by axial tilt.

2. There’s a delay in the system. Even though we get more sunlight every day after the solstice, it takes a while to turn the downward trend and provide enough sunlight to heat up.