Is it true of false that in winter the northern hemisphere is nearest the sun???

Question

Is it true of false that in winter the northern hemisphere is nearest the sun???

Answer 1

The earth is nearest the sun on or about January 6th, this would be winter in the northern hemisphere.  So the whole earth is nearest the sun on this date not just the northern hemisphere.

Answer 2

True

Answer 3

True.  Its just colder cause the northern hemisphere is tilted back during winter

Answer 4

On Jan 5 of every year the sun is closest to the Earth, I believe about 91.5 million miles. So to reword your question, and adding with mine, in contrast to other times of the year, the northern hemisphere is closest to the sun on Jan 5. But the southern hemisphere, due to its facing the sun, is a couple thousand miles closer still. The opposite happens six months later on July 5. I could go for another two pages, but I just hope you realize that it isn't the distance to the sun at various times of year, but the tilting of the Earth's axis that makes the seasons.

Answer 5

january 3rd or 4th is usually perihelion, the closest approach of the Earth to the Sun.

Answer 6

False.

The Earth's axis is tilted, and that tilt is what gives us our seasons.  Winter in the northern hemisphere is when the northern hemisphere is tilted away from the sun.

In January (northern winter), the Earth is at its closest approach to the sun (called perihelion).

That means that northern winter is actually warmer than it would be if the Earth was at its farthest from the sun (called aphelion, which occurs in July).

Answer 7

Your choice of language seems to be confusing people.

So I am not going to answer true or false just yet...

The earth's orbit is such that is it a little closer to the sun in Northern hemisphere winter than in summer.

The issue with seasons is the tilt of the earth's axis - the the northern hemisphere is tilted away from the sun. But the difference in distance as a result of the tilt is negligible. The cause to seasons is not changes in distance but angle of incidence of sunlight.

Consider why it is colder at high latitudes than close to the equator:

At the equator (within the Tropics) the sun gets very high in the sky at noon - and so the sunlight as it hits the ground is most concentrated.

At high latitude, the sun doesn’t get high, the a beam of sunlight comes in at an oblique angle and the sunlight is spread out over a larger area and is thus more dilute.

Try using a laser pointer and shine the spot directly onto the floor, then try holding the pointer at an angle so the spot gets smeared out. The same amount of energy per sec is emitted by the laser pointer in both cases, but when the spot is smeared out the same energy is spread over a larger area, so it wouldn’t get as heated

This effect also accounts for seasons

So I think the answer to your question is "true" - but the wording is ambiguous.

Answer 8

The EARTH is closest to the sun in January.  Farthest in July.  The tilt of the earth is what gives us our seasons.  In summer (for those north of the equator), the northern hepishpere is pointed slightly away from the sun, it receives less direct sunlight, and experiences shorter peroids of daylight.  At the exact same time, however, the southern hemisphere is going through summer, for all the opposite reasons.

Answer 9

true. it means that the northern winter should be slightly milder than the southern winter, but actually the effect is hardly noticeable. seasons are 99% due to axial tilt.

on mars though, with a similar axial tilt and greater orbital eccentricity, the effects are noticeable.

Answer 10

In winter of the northern hemisphere the northern hemisphere is facing away from the sun.

Answer 11

In northern hemisphere winter, the earth is closer to the sun than during northern hemisphere summer.  The temperature differences between summer and winter are caused by the tilt of the earth's polar axis.  In northern hemisphere summer the axis is tilted towards the sun, so the northern hemisphere receives more sunshine then than during its winter.

Given all this, the answer is "true"

Answer 12

Actually the earth's orbit is not perfectly circular around the sun, and is closest to the sun during the northern hemisphere's winter and farthest during the summer, hence, the northern hemisphere has a warmer winter and a cooler summer than the southern.