What Causes The Seasons Research Paper

What causes the seasons?

Earth’s seasons are created by the direct and indirect sunlight that locations on Earth receive during the year, which is caused by the Earth’s constant 23.5˚ tilt toward the north star, making the direct sunlight locations get differ throughout the year. The Angle of Sunlight Lab, measured the temperature of the Northern and Southern Hemisphere while a light source was directed at it for 8 minutes. The position of the Earth simulated what December looks like for Earth. The Southern Hemisphere was tilted directly toward the sun, while the Northern Hemisphere was facing away from the sun. At the beginning of the lab, both temperatures at 45˚ S and 45˚ N were the exact same at 22.3˚ celsius, because no light source had
been turned on. However 8 minutes of light pointed at the globe, 45˚ S had risen 6.3˚celsius, while the spot at 45˚ N had only risen 2.2˚ celsius. After 8 minutes of simulated sunlight the spot in the Southern Hemisphere got much hotter than the Northern Hemisphere. This proves that the hemisphere that is facing the sun gets more direct sunlight than the hemisphere pointing away. The difference in temperature is the result of the light being more concentrated in the Southern Hemisphere making temperatures rise quickly in the lab, yet the rise of temperature in the lab is showing that because the Earth it tilted one hemisphere is having summer, while the other has colder temperatures and is experiencing winter. This opposite relationship between the two hemispheres is shown again the the “Temperatures Around The World Graph”. During the month of June, the highest temperature in the Northern Hemisphere was Boston, MA at 23˚ celsius, while the highest temperature in the Southern Hemisphere was only 13˚ celsius, in Quito, Ecuador. These two data points show that during the month of June, the Northern Hemisphere is experiencing warmer temperatures than the Southern Hemisphere, meaning that the Northern Hemisphere is receiving more direct sunlight, because the Northern Hemisphere is facing the sun. The amount of direct sunlight is caused by what angle the sun’s rays are hitting a location on Earth. The higher the sun is, the more direct light a spot is going to get. During the month of June at 1pm, Boston, MA had their sun was 70˚ in the sky, the same time they had their peak temperatures of the year. This relationship proves that when the sun is at a high angle a location is going to be warmer. The angle of the sun is caused by the tilt of the Earth, therefore when the angle of the sun is closer to 90˚, the location is pointed towards the sun. However when the angle of the sun peeks at a lower angle during the day the location is pointed away from the sun because the sun isn't hitting them when they're not facing it making the sunlight spread out and indirect.
Therefore on December 21st in Boston, MA, when the peak height of the sun was 24˚, the peak temperature was 1˚ celsius. This proves that all year round, in any locations, when the sun is at a lower angle the temperatures will be cold or when the angle of the sun is higher than the temperatures will be warm. The Earth always has the same tilt year round at 23.5 towards the north star, yet what make the hemispheres get different direct light is when the Earth makes its orbit around the sun. At one side of the orbit, the Northern Hemisphere is getting directs sunlight, while on the other is the Southern Hemisphere getting direct sunlight, all because of the fact that at different points of the year only one hemisphere can get direct sunlight because of the tilt, therefore the other hemisphere has to have indirect sunlight, causing colder temperatures. In between the two points were the hemispheres have their summers is spring and fall, where neither hemispheres are having their peak warmth or cold. At these points, neither hemispheres are facing the sun, leaving the two hemisphere to have equal direct sunlight, temperatures and daylight hours, all because the tilt of the Earth at the
time isn’t favoring either hemisphere. The tilt of Earth during its orbit is the reason Earth has contrasting seasons.