Why is it that the seasons do not align with the beginning/end of the calendar year? For instance, winter in the northern hemisphere (summer in the southern hemisphere) runs from the beginning of December to the end of February. Why is this? I would have thought that when people were inventing calendars way back in the distant past that they would have aligned the beginning of the year with the changing of the seasons or maybe one of the solstices or equinoxes. But it seems like the change of seasons and solstices/equinoxes occur at kind of arbitrary times..
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If you turn on your stove for 5 minutes then turn it off, will it be hottest when you just turn it on? No, it will be hottest just before you turn it off.
Same concept for when the sun reaches high noon – the hottest part of day is around 2pm.
And same concept for seasons. Astronomically, June 21 is the longest day of the year but it’s not typically the hottest. December 21 is the shortest day of the year but it isn’t the coldest. At these times our Earth’s tilt puts us as close or far away as it gets (which is what causes seasons). But because we have an atmosphere, we take time to reach the highest heat.
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