We are the farthest from the sun this month: I know it is all about the tilt of earth. Forecast here in Texas is 100+every day this week. Doesn't seem right. :sm16:...

samantha90 Loc: Fort Worth,Texas

I know it is all about the tilt of earth. Forecast here in Texas is 100+every day this week. Doesn't seem right.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Well, one could look at the ≈3.3% distance difference between summer and winter as either giving us cooler summers or warmer winters compared to the other.
Happens every year.

I wonder how much cooler we might be in the Winter if it was a circular orbit at 94,500,000.
Or warmer in the Summer if it was 91,400,000.

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

samantha90 wrote:

I know it is all about the tilt of earth. Forecast here in Texas is 100+every day this week. Doesn't seem right.

Just think what your summers would be like if our earths axial tilt was opposite of the 23 or so degrees it is now.

Or does a mere 3 billion miles of space even matter with the amount of radiation the sun emits.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

pmorin wrote:

Just think what your summers would be like if our earths axial tilt was opposite of the 23 or so degrees it is now.

Or does a mere 3 billion miles of space even matter with the amount of radiation the sun emits.

Wouldn't we just swap Winter and Summer?

(Million, not billion. Probably not.)

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

pmorin wrote:

Just think what your summers would be like if our earths axial tilt was opposite of the 23 or so degrees it is now.

Or does a mere 3 billion miles of space even matter with the amount of radiation the sun emits.

Just wait a while.

The axis of the earth precesses so that that 23.5 degrees goes around. I don't remember how long it takes, but it's like 27,000 years. So 13,500 years from now northern summer will be when the earth is closest to the sun.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

Thank goodness we weren't any closer!!

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

Longshadow wrote:

Wouldn't we just swap Winter and Summer?

(Million, not billion. Probably not.)

Correction noted

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

DirtFarmer wrote:

Just wait a while.

The axis of the earth precesses so that that 23.5 degrees goes around. I don't remember how long it takes, but it's like 27,000 years. So 13,500 years from now northern summer will be when the earth is closest to the sun.

And it will probably only make a difference on the calendar

JimmyTB

I guess those living down under have warmer summers and cooler winters because of that same fact.

Fotoserj Loc: St calixte Qc Ca

Closest to sun in January, yet very cold, farthest in July yet warmer,go figure

Dannj

I guess 3,000.000 miles doesn’t make much difference😳

Verryl

The sun-earth distance makes much less difference in the seasons than the angle due to the tilt of the earth's axis, which is 23.5 degrees. When a hemisphere, N or S is tilted toward the sun the sun's energy is more direct; when tilted away it is spread over a wider area, and thus less intense. That effect of the tilt is much more important that 3% in distance, especially because the distance effect is further reduced by the inverse square law: 3% squared is 0.0009 or .09%, trivial compared to the spreading out of the "same" sun rays over the larger earth surface area when the axis is tilted at the extreme, i.e., at winter.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Fotoserj wrote:

Closest to sun in January, yet very cold, farthest in July yet warmer,go figure

Due to the tilt of the earth's axis.
It probably would be colder in the Winter and warmer in the Summer than it is now if the Earth had a circular orbit.
If we didn't have the tilt of the Earth there would not be seasonal changes.

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

NASA has been exploring the possibility of sending a probe to the sun for scientific purposes. The astrophysicist has determined that the probe would burn up before landing, however, the rocket scientists have determined that they would need to land the probe at night when the sun is sleeping. 😜

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

sippyjug104 wrote:

NASA has been exploring the possibility of sending a probe to the sun for scientific purposes. The astrophysicist has determined that the probe would burn up before landing, however, the rocket scientists have determined that they would need to land the probe at night when the sun is sleeping. 😜

Amazing what they are teaching in schools these days...