Why do we have shorter days in winter?
The amount of sunrays received during the summer and winter varies everywhere. The days are shorter in winters and longer in summers. This variation is attributed to the tilt and the curvature of the earth. The tilt of the earth’s axis is the main reason behind the occurrence of different seasons and the same applies to this variation in day timings.
As we all know, the sun showers its rays on one half of the earth at a time and the other half remains in darkness and this situation changes after 12 hours vice versa. The earth’s tilt plays its role here and it is observed that the part of the earth closer to the poles experiences shorter days in the winter. Every six months, the earth’s axis tilts in different directions. In the winter, the North Pole tilts away from the sun so the nights are longer in that half as it receives less sunlight and remains more in the shadow, and the same thing happens with the South Pole. The night at the North Pole is several months long in winter and the day several months long in the summer.
If we look at the seasonal changes in two hemispheres, we observe that during the period between December to January, the northern hemisphere goes through winter and experiences shorter days. On the other hand, the southern part of the earth has a spell of summer in the same period.
Category: Astronomy, Science
