Earth's Tilt
The amount of solar energy received in different areas of the
surface of the earth is important in determining the characteristics
of the environment there.
Latitude determines the angle of the rays and ultimately the amount
of daylight an area receives.
When solar energy radiates to the earth as light, 30% is immediately
reflected back out as light either by clouds or by ice and snow.
Seventy percent is absorbed 25% by the atmosphere and 45% by
the surface of the earth (lithosphere and hydrosphere) and changes
to heat rays.
Solar Radiation
Depending on the latitude and the degree distance north or south
of the equator, the cooler or warmer the temperature is. The higher
the latitude, the cooler the temperature. At the highest latitudes,
the poles, the temperature is coldest. This is because the amount
of heat or solar radiation that reaches a place depends on the
angle at which the sun's rays hits the Earth's surface. At the
equator the rays form a 90o angle with the surface, therefore hitting
it directly. The heat is intense and highly concentrated on a small
surface area. At the middle latitudes, the rays hit the surface
of the earth less directly, creating less intense, concentrated
heat which is spread over a larger surface area.
Climate Influences
The Earth's tilt also affects the temperature at different latitudes.
Presently, the Earth's axis is tilted 23.5o from normal as it rotates
around the sun annually.
The northern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun in the summer
and away from the sun in the winter. This creates seasonal changes
in the middle latitudes.
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