SUMMER SOLSTICE - GEOGRAPHY
News: What
is the summer solstice and what causes it?
What's in the news?
● We
witnessed the longest day of the year, and it also marks the beginning of the
Summer Solstice.
Summer Solstice:
● Solstice
means “sun stands still” in Latin.
● The
longest day of the year, for anyone living north of the Equator, is June 21.
● The
day is referred to as the summer solstice, and it occurs when the sun is directly
over the Tropic of Cancer, or more specifically right over 23.5 degrees north
latitude.
● At the Arctic Circle, the
sun does not set during the solstice.
What causes Summer Solstice?
● Since
Earth rotates on its axis, the
Northern Hemisphere gets more direct sunlight between March and September over
the course of a day, which also means people living in the Northern Hemisphere
experience summer during this time.
● The
rest of the year, the Southern Hemisphere gets more sunlight.
● During
the solstice, the Earth’s axis around which the planet spins, completing one
turn each day is tilted in a way that the North Pole is tipped towards the Sun
and the South Pole is away from it.
● Typically,
this imaginary axis passes right through the middle of the Earth from top to
bottom and is always tilted at 23.5 degrees with respect to the Sun.
● While
the solstice occurs at the same time across the world, different countries
experience it at different times according to their time zones.
Implications of Solstice:
● During Solstice, the
Earth receiving a greater amount of energy from the Sun.
● The
maximum amount of sunlight received by the Northern Hemisphere during this time
is usually on June 20, 21 or 22.
● In
contrast, the Southern Hemisphere receives most sunlight on December 21, 22 or
23 when the northern hemisphere has its longest nights or the winter solstice.
Key facts:
● Summer
solstice does not mean the earliest sunrise or latest sunset.
● Although
June 21 will be the longest day in 2021, it does not necessarily mean that it
brings the earliest sunrise or latest sunset.
● It
depends on the latitudinal location of
the country.