What is seasons

Seasons occur because Earth is tilted on its axis relative to the orbital plane, the invisible, flat disc where most objects in the solar system orbit the sun. Earth rotates around its axis. This means it gets more hours of daylight.

In December, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the sun, with fewer hours of daylight. Seasons have an enormous influence on vegetation and plant growth. Winter typically has cold weather, little daylight, and limited plant growth. In spring, plants sprout , tree leaves unfurl , and flowers blossom. Summer is the warmest time of the year and has the most daylight, so plants grow quickly.

In autumn, temperatures drop, and many trees lose their leaves. The four-season year is typical only in the mid-latitudes. The mid-latitudes are places that are neither near the poles nor near the Equator. The farther north you go, the bigger the differences in the seasons. Helsinki, Finland, sees In mid-December, however, it is light for less than 6 hours.

Athens, Greece, in southern Europe, has a smaller variation. It has Places near the Equator experience little seasonal variation. They have about the same amount of daylight and darkness throughout the year.

These places remain warm year-round. Near the Equator, regions typically have alternating rainy and dry seasons. Polar regions experience seasonal variation, although they are generally colder than other places on Earth. Near the poles, the amount of daylight changes dramatically between summer and winter. In Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost city in the U. The city is in total darkness between mid-November and January.

Seasons in Alaska Sometimes, seasons are determined by both natural and man-made activity. In the U. Ritu A ritu is a season in the traditional Hindu calendar, used in parts of India.

There are six ritu: vasanta spring ; grishma summer ; varsha rainy or monsoon ; sharat autumn ; hemant pre-winter ; and shishira winter. Seasons can be natural, like hurricane season, which is the time of year when hurricanes are most likely to develop. Seasons can also be artificially created, like hunting season, which is the time of year a community allows people to hunt certain wild animals.

A fruit or vegetable that is in season is available fresh locally at that time :. Strawberries are in season. Season the soup with fresh tarragon , salt , and pepper. Travel agents are offering tempting discounts to persuade holidaymakers to book early for the season. Stores are hoping for a strong Holiday buying season.

Cotton farmers have prospered from a long growing season. The bank started the half-year reporting season for UK retail banks on Friday with its announcement of increased profits. The fashion business moves so quickly that nobody can remember last season's look.

It is unacceptable for carrots to be imported when they are in season in the UK. The bar is open daily in season. Some produce travels halfway across the world so that we can eat fruits and vegetables out of season. There has been an increase in the number of retired people taking holidays out of season. See also dead season. Examples of season. This parameter was not included in previous tables because it was not analyzed during the initial sampling season.

From the Cambridge English Corpus. However, differences in these biases from one epidemic season to another are unlikely. Vertical bars represent s.

Verbal evidence from shepherds and veterinarians also indicates that reproducing females can be found on sheep in these environments in all seasons. The fungicide scheduling programme that provided the highest specific weight varied with cultivar and season. The fungicide scheduling programme that provided the highest grain yield varied by cultivar and season. The climate is tropical and strongly influenced by alternating monsoon and dry seasons.

A greater proportion of cases was unconfirmed during the winter season. Effect modification by age category and season was statistically tested by adding this variable and its first-order interaction term to the final model.

The covariates include the control variables mentioned above parity, season , education, and religion plus the length of the previous birth interval.

With such a short season , crops would never recover from this poor start. Values are means for two summer cropping seasons, and Raw materials, for example, can be located far away, or crops may not grow in certain climates or seasons. See all examples of season.

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. Collocations with season. The astronomical definition uses the dates of equinoxes and solstices to mark the beginning and end of the seasons:.

What are equinoxes and solstices? Because the timings of the equinoxes and solstices change each year, the length of astronomical seasons within a year and between years also vary.

According to the meteorological definition, the seasons begin on the first day of the months that include the equinoxes and solstices. In the Northern Hemisphere, for example,. When the Northern Hemisphere gets most sunlight summer , the Southern Hemisphere gets least winter.

Seasons in the Southern Hemisphere are opposite to those in the Northern Hemisphere. For example, under the definition of astronomical seasons, the June solstice marks the start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, but it is the start of winter in the Southern Hemisphere.

The same rule applies for the other seasons.