The Summer Solstice

our sky around the solstice, why isn’t that day the hottest of the year? And that’s a legitimate question. The answer is more intuitive than you might imagine. It’s simply because our atmosphere doesn’t respond to temperature variations instantly.

Imagine placing a pot of cool water on a hot burner; you know that it won’t heat up instantly and you make allowances for that when cooking. The same is true of our atmosphere, so the hottest days in the Northern Hemisphere typically occur not around the solstice, but in late July or August.

We owe all this seasonal stuff to the fact that our planet’s equator is tipped by about 23.4 degrees to the plane of its orbit around the sun. This means that, during this time of year, the Earth’s Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, causing the sun’s rays to shine down on us more directly. Six months -- and half an orbit -- later, our planet’s tilt aims the Northern Hemisphere away from the sun and the solar rays impact us at a shallower angle.

The summer solstice marks the end of the sun’s northerly climb in the midday sky, and the beginning of our star’s midday descent once again. The term “solstice” comes from two Latin words: “sol” (meaning “sun”) and “sistere” (meaning “to stand still”). And, if you were to watch the midday sun for an entire year, you’d see it stop its annual climb.

This time has been celebrated by cul-

Lost In

BY TRACY BECKERMAN

“Would do you think this is?” my husband asked me, pointing to his elbow.

“That’s your elbow,” I stated matter-of-factly.

“No, these red spots,” he responded.

“Those are red spots,” I replied.

He sighed. “I know they’re red spots. What do you think they’re from?”

I took a closer look at the constellation of red bumps on his forearm just below his elbow.

“I’m certainly no expert,” I drawled, “but based on my firsthand experience of having lived in the suburbs for 25 years, and, having experienced the same exact phenomenon that you are now suffering from, I can say with 99% confidence that those... are mosquito bites.”

I went back to prepping dinner, another thing at which I was certainly no expert at after 25 years but was willing to keep trying so as not to let my tures throughout the ages. Even today, farmers appreciate it as a time when they’re busy harvesting those tasty summer fruits and veggies we all love.

So, even though I no longer have my summers off, nor do I get to play outside later in the evenings, I still get excited about the arrival of summer!

Follow Dennis Mammana at facebook/ dennismammana.

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Though the sun spends the longest time in the sky on the day of the summer solstice, that is not the hottest day of the year.