Seasons and Solstice KAS Geography Study Notes. Summer Solstice, Winter Solstice
Seasons
The seasons are caused due to the combined effect of the earth’s revolution and the tilt of its axis in the same direction throughout the year.
In general, spring, summer, autumn and winter are the four seasons
The latitude at which the sun appears directly overhead changes as the earth orbits the sun.
Solstice
The sun appears to follow a yearly pattern of northward and southward motion in the sky, known as the ‘apparent movement of the sun’.
A solstice is one of the two points in time of each year when the northward/southward motion of the sun in the sky seems to stand still and begin to reverse its direction.
Winter Solstice
The South Pole is inclined towards the sun and the North Pole is away from it.
It, therefore, South Pole experiences complete light for 24 hours.
The rays of the sun fall vertically at the tropic of Capricorn (23½º S).
The greater part of the southern hemisphere gets the direct rays of the sun so the days are long and the nights are short here.
In the northern hemisphere the nights are longer than the days at this time.
The southern hemisphere has summer. The northern hemisphere has winter.
This day (22 December), when the sun’s rays fall vertically on the Tropic of Capricorn, is known as winter solstice.
Summer Solstice
The North Pole is inclined or tilted towards the sun.
It, therefore, experiences complete light for 24 hours.
The South Pole is tilted away from the sun so it is in complete darkness for 24 hours.
The rays of the sun fall vertically at the tropic of cancer (23½º N).
In the Northern hemisphere, the days are longer than the nights
It is summer in the northern hemisphere and winter in the southern hemisphere.
The day 21 June is known as summer solstice.
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Important Latitudes
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