From: utzoo!decvax!cca!ima!johnl
Newsgroups: net.followup,net.misc
Title: Re: speaking of calendars
Article-I.D.: ima.248
Posted: Wed Nov 10 11:53:21 1982
Received: Fri Nov 12 07:01:44 1982
References: azure.1406

It's true -- we're closer to the sun in January than in July.  The
seasons derive from the tilt of the Earth's axis relative to the
ecliptic.

In our summer the northern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, in
the winter we're tilted away.  Look at it like this: your pool has
more time to heat up during those long summer days.  Who'd want to
swim in Febuary when it's dark all the time, anyway?  (Sunbelt
residents need not respond.)

Seasons in the southern hemisphere are, as you'd expect, reversed
from ours.

John Levine, IECC, PO Box 349, Cambridge MA 02238; (617) 491-5451
decvax!yale-co!jrl, harpo!esquire!ima!johnl, ucbvax!cbosgd!ima!johnl (uucp)
Levine@YALE (Arpa).

PS: Does the precession of the equinoxes mean that 10,000 years ago
the seasons were reversed?