How Does the Summer Solstice Work?

In the Northern Hemisphere, the longest day of daylight in the year happens every June. Learn what causes this and how it works in today's episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geophysics/5-things-didnt-know-about-summer-solstice.htm

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey
brain Stuff, Lauren Bolga Baum here. On June, the Northern
Hemisphere experienced its longest day of the year, the day
when the North Pole is leaning most towards the sun.
This year, that took place at two pm Eastern Time.

(00:24):
This annual event is called the summer solstice. For those
of us in the Northern Hemisphere. It's the day of
the year that the Arctic Circle receives a full twenty
four hours of sunlight. The Arctic Circle is a moving
area whose parameters are dictated by the solstices. Scientists define
this expanse to quote the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,

(00:45):
as the latitude above which the sun does not set
on the summer solstice and does not rise on the
winter solstice. So during the June solstice, the entire circle
goes through twenty four straight hours of sunlight. Can firstly,
it has to endure a full day of darkness when
the December solstice comes around. The tourists in the far

(01:06):
North flock to watch the sun blazing at midnight on
every June solstice. This is also the day in which
the sun reaches its highest point above the horizon. At noon,
the sun was directly over the Tropic of Cancer. That's
a latitudinal line located about twenty three point five degrees
north of the equator. A similar phenomenon takes place on

(01:28):
the December solstice, when the sun hits the Tropic of Capricorn,
a southern line located twenty three point five degrees below
the equator. These numbers line up so cleanly because of
the tilt of the Earth on its axis, which is
twenty three point five degrees. But Earth's axial tilt shifts
incrementally over time. But right now, the Arctic Circle is

(01:50):
located a little higher than sixty six degrees above the equator,
but it's creeping northward at a rate of about forty
five to forty nine feet that's fourteen to fifteen meters
per air. So travelers in the distant future will need
to adjust their plans accordingly if they hope to catch
that midnight sun. For the same reason, the name Tropic
of Cancer is now an anachronism. This term references the

(02:14):
fact that two thousand years ago, the Sun used to
cross in front of the constellation Cancer on the day
of the June solstice, it now shines closer to Taurus instead. However,
although no other date on the calendar witnesses more sunlight
than the summer solstice, this is not the hottest day
of the year for most of us in the northern Hemisphere.

(02:36):
It's true that the days up here get progressively shorter
after the solstice. However, for several weeks in June, July,
and August, the hemisphere will still receive more heat during
the day than it loses at night. That's why temperatures
in the northern half of the globe can to climb
in mid to late summer despite their being slightly less
daylight to go around, and this is because it takes

(02:59):
a few months your winters over the land to begin
storing heat. Most states in the continental US will experience
their hottest day of any given year at some point
between early July and mid August. In parts of the
West Coast, the hottest days are typically in September. Not
all planets have similar spreads of seasons and solstices, though,

(03:21):
for example, Urness has a mind blowing degree axial tilt.
Because of this and the fact that it takes the
planet about eighty four earth years to make one rotation
around the sun. The seasons are staggeringly long there. The
last summer solstice in Urnaes northern hemisphere took place in

(03:42):
and the north next winter solstice won't come until Compare
that with Earth, which sees the solstice every six months.
Today's episode is based on the article five things you
didn't know about the Summer Solstice on House to works
dot com, written by Mark Mancini. Brain Stuff is production

(04:03):
by Heart Radio and partnership with house at works dot
Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts
from my heart Radio. Visit their heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.