Why do the days get shorter in winter?
There is less daylight in the winter than in the summer. You might notice that in July it could stay light out until 9:00 at night, but it gets dark much earlier in October.
We know that earth is tilted at a particular angle and also revolves around the sun. Different parts on the earth get more or less amount of the sunrays which cause the seasons and length of days and nights.
This can be easily understood by performing an experiment. Take an apple and pass a stick through it and shine a light on it. This will be summer, the light spreads more of the earth’s Midwest and it will experience a longer day. Now revolve the earth around the sun where the other side faces towards the sun and now the ball is tilted away from the sun that will be winter. The light there will not spread out large so we experience shorter days in winter.
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.
Sources:
whyzz.com
letusfindout.com
thegeminigeek.com
Other links:
Why Are Clouds White?
What Causes Monsoons to Occur?
Why Can’t We See Stars During The Day?
