Well, it seems that July is probably the winner of this contest. After I've checked almost all capital cities in the northern hemisphere, I found July temperatures to be as hot as or hotter than August temperatures.
This is the situation in all western and eastern European capitals and most of the Middle East and northern Africa. The big cities in North America are also mostly characterized by hotter Julies. In fact, the only capital city in which August is significantly hotter than July is Jerusalem I intentionally ignored Asian cities — we'll get back to it. So why is that? Well, on June 21 st every year the Sun is located in the Tropic of Cancer - the circle of latitude on the Earth that marks the most northerly position at which the Sun appears directly overhead.
On this day, the northern hemisphere absorbs the most sunlight, in contrast to the southern hemisphere which absorbs the least. As a result, June 21 st is the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. But if on June 21 st the most sunlight is absorbed, why isn't it the hottest day of the year?
This is because the temperature on a given day depends on several factors of which direct sunlight is not the most important one. The most influential factor is the Earth's heat capacity: the Sun warms up the Earth, which later on radiates off heat in the form of electromagnetic radiation at longer wavelengths than that absorbed. This process is time-consuming, and the difference usually sums up to weeks.
This phenomenon is not unique to summertime; the day on which the northern hemisphere receives the least sunlight is December 22 nd , the shortest day of the year.
Schematic representation of Earth on June 21 st. Sunlight is coming at a right angle to the Tropic of Cancer and the northern hemisphere receives most of it. On December 22 nd , in direct contrast, the solar rays are perpendicular to the Tropic of Capricorn and the southern hemisphere receives most of the solar radiation. I mean, I'm so sick of August that it's not even August and I'm over it. August is one of two offensively unbearable months in the year, the other being February.
February is ridiculous because it's so cold it feels like your face is going to fall off, and time slows down to the point that it feels like the apocalyptic winter might last forever. August is the exact opposite. It's so hot you feel like your face is going to melt off, and so slow that it feels like the apocalyptic summer will last forever.
August is just terrible. I'm actually escaping to Australia to have some of that 60 degree winter. Likewise, I'll be planning my February escape in kind.
August is more than just a "blah" month like March or May ; it's an entirely awful month that has no business being on the calendar. Sure, it's part of "summer", and summer is great, except that summer can't even save August from being horrendously unbearable. So now you're going to join me in being a complainy complainerson while complaining about the complain-inducing month that is August. Here are 6 reasons why August is the worst month and we should just be done with it already:.
August has no special days. There are no great holidays like Easter or Halloween. There's nothing to look forward to. It's just 31 days of of nothingness. I mean, it wouldn't be so bad if you could actually swim through the air, and not just feel like you were swimming through the air.
0コメント