Seasons
Read: Genesis 1:1-19
As the days grow shorter and the sun gets low
There's a chill in the air, the trees put on their show.
Through the long winter a few leaves say no
Refusing to drop and be covered with snow
But after the winter and cold weather parts
And after the melting and the opening of parks.
We rejoice in the warmth as we venture outside
To put the car top down for a long summer ride
Some people think summer is when the Earth is closest to the Sun – not so for the Northern Hemisphere. Earth's orbit is roughly an ellipse in which the sun is not centered. The seasons are not the result of the Earth being farther or nearer the Sun. The reason there is summer and winter is because the axis the Earth spins on is at an angle of 22 1/2 degrees from vertical (compared to the plane of the Earth's orbit). When the axis is tilted toward the sun, the sun's rays are more direct and provide more warmth. This angle is also the reason days are longer when the axis is tilted toward the sun and days are shorter when tilted away. The tilt means the Southern Hemisphere gets the most direct rays when closest to the Sun.
Why is the Sun not centered in Earth's orbit? Why is the axis tilted 22 1/2 degrees? Why is the tilt away when the Sun is closest?
Why?
Because God made it that way!
Jack Van Becelaere
Read: Genesis 1:1-19
As the days grow shorter and the sun gets low
There's a chill in the air, the trees put on their show.
Through the long winter a few leaves say no
Refusing to drop and be covered with snow
But after the winter and cold weather parts
And after the melting and the opening of parks.
We rejoice in the warmth as we venture outside
To put the car top down for a long summer ride
Some people think summer is when the Earth is closest to the Sun – not so for the Northern Hemisphere. Earth's orbit is roughly an ellipse in which the sun is not centered. The seasons are not the result of the Earth being farther or nearer the Sun. The reason there is summer and winter is because the axis the Earth spins on is at an angle of 22 1/2 degrees from vertical (compared to the plane of the Earth's orbit). When the axis is tilted toward the sun, the sun's rays are more direct and provide more warmth. This angle is also the reason days are longer when the axis is tilted toward the sun and days are shorter when tilted away. The tilt means the Southern Hemisphere gets the most direct rays when closest to the Sun.
Why is the Sun not centered in Earth's orbit? Why is the axis tilted 22 1/2 degrees? Why is the tilt away when the Sun is closest?
Why?
Because God made it that way!
Jack Van Becelaere
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