The Reason for the Season

The Summer Solstice on June 21st marks the first day of Summer and while many may think Summer is caused by Earth’s location to the sun, we are actually the farthest away in July. That being said I explore the true reason for the season in my special report below.

We start our journey earlier this year during the Spring Equinox on March 20th when we have a neutral tilt. Since then we have slowly began tilting towards the sun in the Northern Hemisphere until June 21st when we reached a roughly 23.5 degree tilt.

The tilt of Earths axis allows for varying amounts of solar radiation to hit Earth’s Surface. This difference is what creates our seasons. During Summer when we are tilted towards the sun, solar radiation has less distance to travel through Earth’s atmosphere, allowing for less radiation to be scattered and reflected by air particles and clouds and more to reach Earth’s Surface. A surplus of solar radiation at the surface leads to warmer temperatures and thus we get our Summer Season.

After June 21st, we begin to slowly move back toward a neural tilt during the Autumn Equinox and losing daylight as we do. But for now, Summer has made its return.