FOXnews hard hitting science piece: "Why Summer Begins Monday"

[Bozita]

I saw the title of the article. I saw the source. I couldn't resist.


http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/06/20/summer-begins-monday/?test=latestnews

Why Summer Begins Monday
Published June 20, 2010 | LiveScience

The pools have opened and kids are out for summer break, but in an astronomical sense summer begins Monday, which is officially summer solstice for the Northern Hemisphere.

The relative positions of sun and Earth deem it so. Here's what's behind that timing:

Earth is tilted on its axis 23.5 degrees, so it leans one way as it spins around its axis while orbiting the sun. On June 21 this year (some years it's June 20), the North Pole is pointing toward the sun as much as is possible. (Winter solstice occurs when the top half of our planet, everything north of the equator, faces directly away from the sun, leaving the North Pole in complete darkness.)

The sun will be as high in the sky as it can go at 7:28 a.m. EDT (11:45 UTC) and will stay in the sky for a fraction of a second longer than the day prior or the day after.

Since Monday marks the sun’s peak, you might wonder why June 21 doesn't typically mark summer's peak heat. The reason has to do with the slow pace at which oceans heat up and cool down. By mid-June the oceans of the Northern Hemisphere are still cool from winter's chill, delaying the peak air temperatures by a month and a half, according to NASA.

Earth is actually farther away from the sun during the summer than it is during the winter months, because our planet's orbit is elliptical, a squished circle of sorts.

more...

[pinto]

1. LOL. Well, at least it's *actual* fact-based science.

:hi:

[Cresent City Kid]

2. They might be ready

They've grasped "fire bad" and "world round" so far.

[pinto]

5. LOL. "earth revolves around sun"

:think:

[Bozita]

9. There's another school of thought on that subject.

FOXnews can help us to decide.

[Cresent City Kid]

20. Slow down there

That's Renaissance talk.

[Canuckistanian]

21. But the science isn't settled

Somewhere out there, there's a biochemist that will argue that the earth doesn't move.

[Jamastiene]

16. Lol, good one.

:spray:

[Curmudgeoness]

3. I guess Fox news junkies didn't take elementary science. nt

[provis99]

4. the article is also factually wrong.

They seem to think that all of the earth has summer and winter at the same time. When its summer in Canada, its winter in South Africa, and vice versa.

[treestar]

7. Their hemispherism is showing

[Arugula Latte]

13. Oh, now yer just flauntin yer fancy book lernin.

:P

[Jamastiene]

17. Shhhh. Don't tell them.

Maybe some of us will get a chance to bundle up and watch them travel to a cold place with their swim suits and shorts and :rofl: at them. :evilgrin:

[louis-t]

6. Nothing in there about "it's warm today so there's no

global warming"?

[old mark]

8. IT IS SUMMER BECAUSE GOD SAID SO, NOT FER NO COMMIE SCIENCE.

I am sure Fox got a few complaints from their fans on their "radical" views ...let's just call this the "Theory of the Seasons" and teach it as an alternative to creation science.

Idiots.

mark

[gratuitous]

10. Oh God, they've even gotten to Fox!

Double red emergency alert! Freepers to your basements! Ultra alarm! Aaaaaaaahhhhh! :yoiks:

[Fearless]

11. Heliocentrism??? SOCIALISM!!!

:rofl:

[Warren DeMontague]

12. Great. Now their viewers are going to worry that, since the Earth is titled, they're going to

roll off the side.

[Marr]

14. They're acknowledging that the earth is spherical?

I thought the Fox News position was that "experts disagree" on that subject.

[johnaries]

15. In honor of Fox's "We report, you decide" tradition,

a second opinion... err, explanation:

http://www.theflatearthsociety.org/tiki/tiki-index.php?page=The+Seasons

[Bozita]

18. kick for the day shift

[CanonRay]

19. That is a difficult thing to understand for their audience

c'mon, credit where credit is due. They do know their audience! :evilgrin:

[TZ]

22. What about the flat earthers?

You need to TEACH THE CONTROVERSY...:sarcasm: (just in case)

[Kber]

23. Heaven help us.

[End Of The Road]

24. Let me know when they try to explain precession of the equinoxes. nt

[Bozita]

25. I heard all those equinoxes were killed off during the BP oil geyser in the Gulf

[lpbk2713]

26. Sounds like something intended for Sesame Street

But then ... :eyes:

[librechik]

27. Begins: "Few Fox Viewers realize the world is round and orbits the sun"

details at eleven!