Weather
The reason for the seasons lies in Space.
Our planet Earth plots a path through space that takes it around the Sun. This path, or orbit, takes one year. The Earth is tilted, so over the year first one and then the other Pole leans towards the Sun, giving us seasons. In June, for example, the North Pole leans towards the Sun. The Sun heats the northern half of Earth and there is summer.
Northern winter and southern summer happen when the Southern Hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun.
When it is summer’ in Argentina, it is winter in Canada.
In December, the South Pole leans towards the Sun. Places in the southern half of the world, such as Argentina, have summer. At the same time, places in the northern half, such as Canada, have winter.
A day can last 21 hours!
Night and day happen because Earth is spinning as it circles the Sun. At the height of summer, places near the North Pole are so tilted towards the Sun that it is light almost all dag long. In Stockholm, Sweden, Midsummer’s Eve lasts 21 hours because the Sun disappears below the horizon for only three hours.
At the North Pole, the Sun never disappears below the horizon at Midsummer’s Pay.
Deciduous trees like these lose their leaves in autumn, but evergreens keep their leaves all year round.
Forests change colour in the autumn.
Autumn comes between summer and winter. Trees prepare for the cold winter months ahead by losing their leaves. First, though, they suck back the precious green chlorophyll, or dye, in their leaves, making them turn glorious shades of red, orange and brown.