Poll question: True or false: The Earth's seasons are caused by the fact that the Earth's orbit is elliptical. The Earth is further away from the Sun in winter, and closer to the Sun in summer. This poll will close in 2 days. In answering the poll, please do not look at other people's answers before responding, since that will bias the results. Also, please do not post comments on the answer in this thread until after the poll has closed. A number of Harvard graduands were recently asked the same question, and I'd like to compare how members of sciforums go with it compared to these "elite" students.
Hmm... So, roughly one in five respondents to the poll got it wrong. Apparently, the Harvard graduands weren't so great, either. The poll question was one of the most common responses from these students when asked "What causes the seasons?" This kind of question shows that even highly educated students often lack basic critical thinking skills. For example, an obvious question is: If this explanation is true, why is it summer in Australia at the same time that it is winter in the United States? Doesn't this tell you that the explanation cannot be correct? So, to clear things up, can one of the 13 correct respondents provide the correct explanation? What causes the seasons?
The 0rientation of the earth is such so that the suns rays are either concentated(in the summer) per surface area, or more spread out per given surface area(in winter). This is due to the angle the surface is in respect to the path of the sun rays at that given time.
Thanks I forgot to include that it was all due to god fighting with satan in the first place. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
What? I never saw this poll. This is the first time I ever saw it Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Anyway I would have voted false. Think about it... why would the southern hemisphere be hot when the northern hemisphere is cold? And then change to the opposite? Seems to have nothing to do with the distance from the sun.
in america it is the middle of winter in january, january also happens to be the month that the earh is closest to the sun. the only thing it can be is the northern hemishere is tilted away from the sun.
You always say that. You also said that in the Zidane thread. Huumm... maybe that means you need to get laid! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I blame the weather forecasters, messing up the climate with their trickery and lies. Where do I vote?
I drew this diagram as I probably didn't explain too well. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Do I get a wowwy pop?
I've drawn a diagram also, as I understand that this isn't an easily-visualised concept: Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! OK, now where do I vote?
