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The Earth leans into the sun, sunlight hits at more direct angle and is more effective at heating to Earth's surface. Sun appears high in sky and rays hit more directly, spreading out less light rays.

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13y ago
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12y ago

The Earth is tilted with respect to its orbital plane around the Sun. In Summer north of the equator Earth is tilted toward the Sun, thus receives more direct heat and light.

In Summer south of the equator (During winter north of the equator) the south hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun, receiving more direct heat and light.

By the way, The Earth's elliptical orbit is extremely close to being a circle - it could not possibly cause our seasonal variations. If that were the cause, then it would be the same season on both the north and south hemispheres at the same time. That is not true: when it is Summer north of the equator, it is Winter south of the equator.

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10y ago

It has to do with the Earth's axial tilt.

Imagine a plane that lies perfectly aligned with the Earth's orbit, so that the center of the Earth never leaves that plane as the Earth moves around the Sun. The Earth's rotational axis is not perpendicular, or 90º, to that plane. Instead, the axis is tilted about 23.5º out of that perpendicular position (so it makes an angle of 66.5º with the imaginary plane).

At one point during the year, the Earth's northern hemisphere is therefore tilted toward the Sun, while the Southern Hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun. Six months later, the southern hemisphere would be tilted toward the Sun while the northern hemisphere would be tilted away. This tilt causes the seasons.

When the Earth's northern hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun, the sun climbs much higher in the sky for people in the northern hemisphere. Sunlight strikes the ground at a more direct angle. As a result, each square meter of ground receives a large amount of sunlight during a typical day. Ground temperatures, and consequently the air temperature, gets pretty high. People in the northern hemisphere know that time as summer.

In the meantime, the southern hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun. The sun doesn't climb as high in the sky for people living in the southern hemisphere, so they experience winter while the northern hemisphere experiences summer. One square meter of ground in the southern hemisphere doesn't receive as much sunlight as the same area in the northern hemisphere, and so it is cooler.

Six months later, the situation is reversed: the nothern hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun (and therefore experiencing winter) while the southern hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun (and therefore experiencing summer).

Spring and fall occur halfway between summer and winter, when neither hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun.

I hope that helps. Good luck!

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13y ago

The tilt (or axis) of the planet is at an angle. Depending on which hemisphere you reside, the angle of that axis will put you closer to or farther away from the sun.

Let me give you an example. Let us say you live in North America. You reside in the northern hemisphere of the earth and during the summer, the northern part of the planet would be closer to the sun making it warmer. During the winter, the northern part is farther away, making it colder.

Earth is closer to the sun. The earths orbit is not an even circle, it is an ellipse.

the angle of the earth and sun

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12y ago

the earth is tilted on its axis toward the sun its kinda obvious

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11y ago

It is warmer in the summer because the continent you live in is where the sun hits the most because of the way the Earth is tilted.

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13y ago

it has sun

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Q: What causes summer to be warmer than winter?
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