That's why it gets increasingly hot as we head toward the summer solstice in June.īy the way, the equinoxes aren't exactly 'equal' And now here we are at the spring equinox! Going forward, the Northern Hemisphere will be more exposed to the sun than the Southern Hemisphere. (That's why it stays dark for so long each day during the winter in places such as Scandinavia and Alaska.)īut since the winter solstice three months ago in December, you've noticed that our days have been getting longer in the Northern Hemisphere and the nights shorter. Those are the solstices, and they have the most extreme differences between day and night, especially near the poles. The effect is at its maximum in late June and late December. This discrepancy in sunlight is what triggers the seasons. That positions one hemisphere of the planet to get more sunlight than the other for half of the year's orbit around the sun. However, the axis tilts at 23.5 degrees, as NASA explains. It's called the axis, and this rotation is what gives us day and night. The Earth rotates along an imaginary line that runs from North Pole to South Pole. They get roughly 12 hours of daylight and nighttime year round.
So for Argentinians, South Africans and Australians, among others, this is a time to look forward to cooler weather and the joys of autumn.įor people who reside near the equator (in places such as Quito, Ecuador, or Singapore), none of this is a big deal. While folks in the Northern Hemisphere are looking forward to longer days, warmer weather, flowers and a burst of greenery, people living south of the equator are heading into fall. You can click here to see a listing of major cities on the website. For residents of Tokyo, it spills into late afternoon at 6:37 p.m. Going farther east, Istanbul clocks in at 12:37 p.m., and Mumbai marks the exact event at 3:07 p.m. Now for denizens of Lisbon and London, that will be 9:37 a.m. Out in San Diego and Vancouver, that means it arrives at 2:37 a.m. For people in places such as Montreal and Miami, that's 5:37 a.m. The equinox will arrive at 9:37 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) March 20. Precisely when does the spring equinox happen? The term equinox comes from the Latin word "equinoxium," meaning "equality between day and night." And vernal also comes from Latin and means spring. If you ever hear anyone say "vernal equinox," it means the same thing. And we'll also have a noteworthy asteroid passing through the neighborhood the next day that you'll want to know about. And with more Covid-19 vaccinations being distributed by the day, the hopes that spring traditionally represent - rebirth and renewal - seem within our grasp.īelow are some scientific and cultural tidbits about the spring equinox. The spring equinox is going back to its more usual date of March 20. In 2020, we were compelled to do the opposite, retreating indoors and into isolation to slow the march of the coronavirus.īut 2021 offers signs of a return to normalcy. For millennia, humankind has tracked the sun and the seasons and celebrated the promise of renewal and rebirth by joining together outdoors. The call of the spring equinox is ancient and primal. But decades from now, that equinox will best be remembered as the time when much of world had just started hunkering down against the Covid-19 pandemic. Because of the peculiarities of the calendar, it was the earliest arrival of a spring equinox in 124 years. Last year, the equinox made an earlier-than-usual arrival. Spring equinox 2021 arrives on Saturday, March 20, bringing its nearly perfect balance of daytime and nighttime all around the world. (CNN) - For people in the Northern Hemisphere who huddled against a sometimes brutal winter, hope is here.
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