Like all planets, Earth doesn’t revolve around the sun in a circular orbit, but an elliptical one. Therefore, at a certain point, the Earth is closer to the sun than usual, while at the opposite end of its orbit it’s farther away from the sun than usual. Though this change in the distance from the sun during a year does affect the sun’s radiation by 3%, it does not cause seasons.

One of the season’s main factors is the tilt of the Earth’s axis. The Earth’s axis is an imaginary line running from the North Pole to the South Pole. The axis is tilted at a degree of 23.5. Summer for the Northern Hemisphere, also known as the June Solstice, begins on June 21st . Soon after that, Autumnal Equinox, which is also know as Autumn or Fall for the Northern Hemisphere, begins on the 22 of September (which happens to be my birthday).Then there is the December Solstice, which begins on 22 of December (which happens to be the day before the Apocalypse in 2012 according to the Mayans), and is Winter for the Northern Hemisphere. After December Solstice, Vernal Equinox, or Spring in the Northern Hemisphere, begins on March 21st.. Because of the Earth’s tilt, the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere get different amounts of light each season. For example, when the Northern Hemisphere has Summer, then it means that the top half of the Earth is tilted towards the sun, so it gets more heat, while the bottom half is tilted away from the sun, getting less heat, therefore falling into winter.

If the Earth wasn’t tilted anymore, we would still have night and day, as the Earth would still rotate on its axis, but we wouldn’t have seasons because one side of the Earth would not be tilted towards or away from the sun anymore, and both north and south would get the same amount of light and heat. Whereas if the Earth didn’t revolve around the sun anymore, then we would have endless winter in the northern hemisphere, and endless summer in the southern hemisphere, or vice versa.

I suppose that the Equator does deserve a mention in this particular topic. The Equator is another imaginary line that runs through the center of the earth, not the axis, but from one that runs from East to West. At the Equator, sun rays hit perpendicularly, lighting up a lower section of land (or water), but at a more concentrated rate. Because it is at the center, temperatures in the Equator vary very slightly. However, the Equator is not the only area in the world that has perpendicular sunlight. At 23.5º North, also known as the Tropic of Cancer, and at 23.5º South, the Tropic of Capricorn, sun rays can hit perpendicularly, and so the weather in the area between them is much the same everyday. As the Equator is hit by the sun all the time during the day, the difference of time and day in there is always the same, 12hr night and 12hr day. As you go south and north of the Equator, the difference between night and day increases. At the poles you get daylight for six months or night for six months. This is because when the Northern Hemisphere gets Summer, and the North Pole is tilted towards the sun, it cannot rotate away from the sun, because the Earth rotates on its axis, not its Equator. In the meanwhile, as the Southern Hemisphere is tilted away from the sun, the South Pole being so far back, it doesn’t manage to get any sunlight. Then, after six months, it is the opposite, as the Arctic gets tilted away from the sun and the Antarctic is tilted towards the sun