It is my (barely informed) understanding that summer is caused primarily by the larger amount of sunlight hitting that hemisphere during the season. So why is it that (in the northern hemisphere) July and August are so often hotter than June (I know it’s not always the case but usually).
Also why wouldn’t May, getting just as much direct sunlight per day as July, be as hot on average as July? Why is August even hot when the end of the month is getting close to the equinox?
In: 3
Because things take a while to heat up.
If you put a kettle of water on a hot plate the water will not be the hottest immediately after you put it on the plate but some time later.
The ground and the water that gets more sunlight will take a while to heat up and water and ground don’t heat up at the same speed, which is why some places have their temperature peak later or sooner than others.
There is also an unrelated but somewhat mind-blowing idea that in addition the seasons being caused by the tilt of the earth’s axis we also have the minor effect that the earth’s distance to the sun varies by about 5 million kilometers (out 150 million) over the year.
The point where Earth is closest to the sun is (this year) January 4 and it is farthest from the sun on July 6. This means the planet as a whole gets lees sunlight during summer in the northern Hemisphere and more during winter in the northern hemisphere. Despite that overall the planet is hottest during summer in the northern hemisphere, because there is more land in the north than the south and land absorbs sunlight better than water.
Latest Answers