why do we have seasons pbs interactive

We have seasons because the Earth is tilted as it orbits the Sun, so different parts of the planet receive different amounts and angles of sunlight at different times of year. It is not because Earth is closer to the Sun in summer and farther in winter; the key is the 23.5‑degree tilt of Earth’s axis.

What the PBS interactive shows

The PBS interactive “Why Do We Have Seasons?” (PBS LearningMedia) lets you change the time of year and watch how the height and path of the Sun in the sky change for different cities on Earth. As you click through the small circles around Earth’s orbit, you see that in each city the Sun is higher in the sky and up for more hours in its summer, and lower and up for fewer hours in its winter.

The real cause of seasons

• Earth’s axis is tilted about 23.5 degrees relative to its path around the Sun.

• As Earth orbits, sometimes your hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun (more direct light and longer days = summer) and six months later it is tilted away (less direct light and shorter days = winter).

• Near the equator, sunlight is fairly direct all year, so places there have little temperature change and often talk about wet and dry seasons instead of four distinct seasons.

Why “closer to the Sun” is wrong

• Earth is actually slightly closer to the Sun during Northern Hemisphere winter and slightly farther during its summer, so distance cannot explain the seasons.

• The interactive and other kid‑science videos emphasize that it is the angle of sunlight and length of daylight, not distance, that makes summers warmer than winters.

Opposite seasons north and south

• When the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun (around March–September), it has spring and summer while the Southern Hemisphere has autumn and winter.

• Six months later the situation flips, giving opposite seasons between, for example, the United States and Australia.

Extra seasonal details

• Astronomical seasons are defined by equinoxes and solstices: equinoxes when day and night are nearly equal, solstices when one hemisphere is most tilted toward or away from the Sun.

• Meteorologists sometimes define “meteorological seasons” by temperature patterns in neat three‑month blocks (Mar–May for spring, Jun–Aug for summer, etc.), which is why seasonal dates on weather reports may differ slightly from astronomical ones.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.