Question

On June 21, your uncle who lives in New York experiences summer, whereas your cousin who lives in Jakarta, experiences winter. Give reasons to support your answer.

Answer 1

• On June 21, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun.

  • New York is in the Northern Hemisphere, so it has summer with long, warm days.

• Jakarta is near the Equator.

  • Equatorial regions don’t have summer or winter.
  • They get almost equal sunlight all year, so temperatures stay hot.
  • Seasons there are wet and dry, not summer/winter.
  • In June, Jakarta is usually in its dry season, with warm, less rainy weather.
• Reasoning:
  • Earth's axis is tilted at 23½°, causing different parts of the world to get more or less direct sunlight during its orbit.
  • The tilt explains seasonal differences between hemispheres, but Equatorial regions stay hot all year because the Sun's rays are always fairly direct.