Incredible But True.

[ordbrae]

Around the 4th of July each year the Earth is furthest from the Sun despite the hottest period in the UK

[aelmpvw]

so where is all this ruddy heat coming from then?

[bibblebub]

Once you've learnt about the tilt of the Earth's axis then the incredibility factor fades away.

[LazyGun]

Yes, Aphelion day - when the earth is furthest away from the sun in its lopsided elliptical orbit, in contrast to perihelion, when it is at its closest.

These things are all relative though- average distance Earth to Sun is 93 million miles, at Aphelion that distance extends to around 94.5 million - so only around 3% further out than usual.

It is hotter right now, counterintuitively, because of earths tilt from its vertical axis - a tilt of around 23% (?) - with the northern hemisphere tilted in toward the Sun. This has a greater effect than the distance from the Sun.

[ordbrae]

The earth's tilt does'nt alter it's distance from the sun

[jim360]

No, but it alters the relative angle between where the ground is and where the sun's light is, so that more light is focus on the same area.

[Hymie]

Watch out for ordbrae’s next post – when he discovers that during the earth’s annual cycle, around December/January time, the earth is nearest the sun.

[LazyGun]

Also - More land mass in the Northern Hemisphere than the Southern Hemisphere, and landmass is heated more effectively than water.

[Old_Geezer]

Not that incredible if you live in the southern hemisphere

Has to be furthest away at some time.

[mibn2cweus]

Longer days bring warmer nights ~

During summer, the Sun is not only climbs higher above the horizon but for a longer period of time as well, both contributing to warmer weather.

[neodarwinian]

Yes, this is commonly understood to be true by educated people knowing about the axial tilt of the earth.

Still, some do not understand this and think distance from sun, though earth's elliptical orbit is small, is the cause of temperature seasonal change.

[ordbrae]

Its gratifying to stimulate such a response.This was my intention in the first place.

[sandyRoe]

Is it not that the part of the Earth we occupy is at its nearest distance to the Sun? The antipodes would be at their furthest.

[woofgang]

Ha if all you wanted to do was get a response, try posting a comment about religion. atheism or politics.

[mibn2cweus]

At 50° latitude, the length of day varies by 100%!
http://astro.unl.edu/classaction/animations/coordsmotion/daylighthoursexplorer.html

Combined with the more concentrated distribution of the Sun's energy in Summer months as compared to a much wider distribution of this same energy in Winter,
http://profhorn.meteor.wisc.edu/wxwise/radiation/sunangle.html

these independently and even more so together have a much more profound effect on overall temperature than a 3.3% change in distance from the Sun throughout the year.

[jomifl]

ordbrae, if you read a book on basic meteorology you will find that the air over the UK can come from many regions, some warmer than others depnding on the season. The amount of sunshine has a lesser effect than origin of air mass. The earth may be further from the sun in the UK summer but it isn't summer everywhwere.

[ToraToraTora]

surely the top of everest should be the hottest place! :)

[jomifl]

Tora :-) especially on the 21st December

[mibn2cweus]

If you want to know the point on Earth currently closest to the Sun look for the highest elevation here ~ http://rl.se/sub-solar-point

[ordbrae]

At the age of 10 almost 74 years ago I saw, in the Scottish Museum in Edinburgh what I can best describe as a giant plumb ball suspended from the dome high above the the floor.The ball had a conical pointer a short distance above a graded pattern on the floor.I could hardly believe I was looking,at first hand,the tilt of the earth shown graphically on the grid calibrated in degrees.I felt I had a surreal feeling my body was tilted.Since then I have an abiding interest in the movement of the planets in relation to the sun.The reasons for the seasons;day and night and the varying temperatures as well as the varying prevailing winds.
Many thanks for your various replies.Some good and some less so.
It was my intention to stimulate opinion;it certainly achieved that however,I now ask the most intriguing question of all.How did it all begin and in such an orderly fashion?