New Delhi: The summer season has geographically begun in the northern hemisphere of the globe today. Google Doodle is dedicated to summer season or the day of the summer solstice this Friday.
Today, 21 June, happens to be the longest day of the year. Summer begins today in the northern hemisphere.
Today, people living to the north of the equator will enjoy the maximum sunlight in one given day. Not only this, in the north of the Arctic Circle, today the sun will be visible for 24 hours.
The southern hemisphere will observe the smallest day of the year. It will be the beginning of winters ‘down’ there. Further, to the south of the Antarctic Circle today, the sun will not be visible at all for 24 hours and there will be darkness all around.
It is not necessary that the longest day of the year happens every year on 21 June. It can be any day between 20 June and 22 June.
One may understand this by looking at the angle of the incident sun rays. When the sun’s rays fall vertically on the troposphere, it’s the longest day in the northern hemisphere. That is, the northern hemisphere is completely tilted towards the sun. Then, the summer starts in this hemisphere around the globe.
Sunlight barely reaches the southern hemisphere at this point. As explained above, the north pole is facing the sun at this point, keeping the southern half of the globe dark and the Antarctic Circle the darkest. The night here is long and the day is short. The winters begin.
During the summer solstice, India, the US, the UK, Canada, Russia, China, etc experience summer as these countries all fall in the northern hemisphere.
In India, this summer is marked by an acute water crisis in large parts of northern and western States.
In colder countries, however, it is fun, as their lands remain covered in snow across the winter months.