Cheer up spring is nigh.
Yes, it is true, spring is here and the hours of daylight are increasing again. Hurray we have passed the shortest day (7hours, 49min, 40sec) on the 22nd December at 4.19am last year. Only 76 days to the spring equinox on the 20th March when the days catch up and become even longer. The obvious question arises why do we have seasons and do they exist everywhere on our planet? The short answer is NO, people living on the equator (e.g. Amazon, Congo and forest of Southeast Asia) only experience wet and dry seasons but their days and night are always equally long.
Exceptions
There are two exceptions to the general warm and humid conditions and that are the Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and the Andes. These mountains have the highest peaks in the world and therefore provide a cool climate with alpine glaciers and dry weather. Our alpacas are perfectly adapted for the Andes and need extra Vitamin D boost during the year to compensate for the lack of sun shine in Dorset. So, why are we so lucky and have these wonderful four seasons in a year. Earth is orbiting the sun during the year and spinning at the same time around its own axis. We call the spinning day and night, i.e. moving towards the sun and away from it, of course we are using relativity and saying the sun is rising and setting.
How it all works
The earth’s axis is going through the poles, and when looking into the south pole the earth spins clockwise. Additionally, the axis is tilted about 23.5 degrees. Hence, in winter the north pole (our northern hemisphere) is tilted away from the sun and the south pole (southern hemisphere, e.g. Australia) is tilted towards the sun, i.e. summer. The equator is the imaginary line between the two hemispheres and is therefore always in the same position towards the sun. Clever isn’t it?
Where are our local Biologists? Nobody answered my last quiz nor told me which plant belongs to the leaf of the two seasons. Come on people you can do better than this. Todays question is why do we have regular leap years? So, work it out and email it to me at railsfarm@phonecoop.coop
Cheerio,
Christoph