Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Some Sunshine Facts For You...!


Because it's been so hot as of late, I thought I would share some surprising facts about our marvelous sun!

As usual, I went to the Old Farmer's Almanac for these facts. Thanks, Almanac folks!

Did you know:

• In summer, Earth travels to its farthest point from the Sun. So, why does summer bring the warmest months for the Northern Hemisphere? Because warmth is determined by the tilt of Earth’s axis, which lets rays of sunlight hit our hemisphere more directly.

• Though we receive the most direct and longest sunlight now, the hottest days of summer aren’t typically until July or August. Why? Because it takes the oceans and Earth a while to warm up from the wintertime, so we have a “lag” of the seasons.

Even without the seasons, changes in the Sun affect Earth. We expect higher levels of solar activity in the next few years. This influences us all since 21st-century life relies more on satellites and high-tech infrastructure.


So just what does all this mean? It means that it's HOT! And it's gonna get hotter...that goes without saying!

I'm kinda dreading the Summer here in the Texas coastal area, and am NOT looking forward to the first hurricane!

Now how about some coffee on the patio? I promise we can sit in the shade, at least for now.

13 comments:

Tatersmama said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tatersmama said...

Pull me up a chair, and I can sit and bask in some of the wonderful warmth! It's winter here, and although we're above freezing today, my toes aren't totally convinced that it's slightly warmer than it was yesterday.

And that coffee? Please keep 'er comin' HermitJim!

(I deleted the last post. My brain was faster than my fingers, I think.;)

HermitJim said...

Hey Katie...
I keep forgetting that he season's are reversed between here and there! I can't imagine cold right now, since it's already in the high 80's and not even 8:00 am.

Keep those3 toes warm! Cold feet make you cold all over!

Thanks for coming by today, my friend!

Catman said...

Right, you are, Jim!

And the sun can possibly provide us with more entertainment than we could possibly hope for:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20100609/sc_space/moreactivesunmeansnastysolarstormsahead

If anyone has any doubt as to how serious this can be, search out on the internet "The Carrington Event"

HermitJim said...

Hey Catman...
yeah, looks like we are in for a rough time this year and next!

Things are definitely going to get interesting!

Hey, thanks for coming by today!

JoJo said...

Good Morning My Special One
You should pack up your mom and you guys can come up here with me. The highs have been in the 80's and the nights are a true delight. I have a screened in porch and I run a fan out there for comfort.
There is always plenty of coffee on hand too.
It does go into the 90's but its still nice because so far no humidity. I know it will come but we can't have everything perfect all the time.:)

HermitJim said...

Hey JoJo...
I do appreciate the offer, sweetie!

Sounds like the temps are pretty decent for ya at the new home place! No if you had you an out door kitchen area, you would be good to go!

Thanks, sweetie, for dropping by today!

Mechanic in Illinois said...

Sorry I missed yesterday,I had domestic duty. My daughters central air went out and I had to weld in a piece of tubing and charge it back up. Anyway it's hot and humid up here in central Illinois. Better then shoveling snow so I'll take it. Thanks for another great lesson.

HermitJim said...

Hey Mechanic...
Bet she's glad to have you around and handy enough to ix things like her ac unit!

Probably saved her a lot of money in the process!

I'm happy you got it fixed up for her, and also glad you could come by today!

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

We are having an unusually cold summer here in the north. It seemes the heat won´t stop more than a day or so and then it gets cold again.

We up here noticed the tilt of the axis much in summer. It´s now about 17 hours from when the sun goes up till it goes down again. But since the tilt is so big now it takes about one hour more before it gets dark and it starts to get light about one hour before it gets up :-)
Have a great day now!
Christer.

HermitJim said...

Hey Christer...
That certainly makes for a long day! 17 hours of daylight is a lot!

I like the darkness for sleeping, so it would take some getting used to for me!

Hey, thanks for coming by today!

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Perhaps you should consider switching to some iced coffee on the patio given all the heat and humidity we are bith having now. If you have read any of Grenville's recent posts (and mine too) is is HOT and more HOT here on the VA eastern shore. COme to think of it, maybe we should jump into the iced coffee to cool off a bit.
Whadya think?

HermitJim said...

Hey Beatrice...
I can't drink "iced coffee" but maybe some iced tea would be good! Something about cold coffee is a turn off for me!

I think that many of us are faced with the rise in temps right now...and I can only imagine what August is going to be like!

Thanks for coming by today!