Yearly/Seasonal Cycle

    As you know, the time it takes for the earth to revolve around the sun is one "year", which is broken down into the four "seasons". This is the yearly cycle, caused by the earth revolving eastward, or counter-clockwise around the sun. The seasonal cycle happens when the northern hemisphere of the earth is either tilted away or towards the sun, causing the seasons. The light and heat from the sun hit the southern hemisphere more directly than the north side that is tilted away, causing "summer" in the south, and "winter" in the north, or vice versa. For spring and fall, the axis of the earth is "parallel" to the sun; neither pointing towards or away, so the heat strikes the northern hemisphere and the southern hemisphere at the same time. Below are diagrams of this cycle.

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