We explain what summer is and the main characteristics of this annual season. Also, the seasons into which the year is divided.
What is summer?
summer is one of the four climatic seasons of the temperate zones: the warmest of them, which takes place between spring and autumn. It is a season linked to the harvest (although this depends on the type of seeds sown) and to the holiday period, since in many regions the population flees from the oppressive heat to cooler latitudes.
summer It takes place from June to August in the northern hemisphere and from December to February in the southern hemisphere. However, these limits are not always exact. The station usually begins with the summer solstice (June 21 in the Northern Hemisphere and December 21 in the Southern Hemisphere) and ends on the autumn equinox (September 22 in the Northern Hemisphere and March 21 in the Southern Hemisphere).
The term summer is also frequently used to refer to all the warm seasons and winter to refer to the cold ones. In the intertropical zone, similarly, it is common to refer to summer as the dry season, and winter as the rainy season.
In the Western imagination, summer It is associated with the sun, with the harvest, abundance and with the adulthood of the human being.. Ancient civilizations used to worship their solar gods during the solstice, as these were usually the main ones in their mythologies.
For example, in Assyrian mythology, the death of the god Baal at the hands of his brother Mot caused the advent of drought, that is, summer. In Greek mythology, similarly, this season was personified by Carpus, one of the Hours, goddess of heat fruits and daughter of Breeze, one of the names of the god of the West Wind, Zephyrus.
In later Roman representations, summer was represented as a maiden crowned with golden ears and holding a torch; or as a strong young man who holds the horn of plenty (cornucopia) on his shoulder.
See also: Cardinal points
Summer Features
summer is the season characterized by the greatest intensity of heat and sun (since the region of the planet receives the sun's rays directly), which is why droughts also occur. It is not uncommon, however, for summer storms to occur, especially in humid regions of the planet.
On the other hand, the days in summer get longer with longer duration and light intensity, unlike what happens in winter. The nights, therefore, become shorter and dawn breaks earlier.
seasons of the year
As is well known, The year in temperate regions is climatically divided into four defined seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. The first two are the warmest and have the greatest flowering of plant life, in which the day lasts longer and is brighter. The last two, on the other hand, are darker, colder and in certain regions are characterized by frost, snow or freezing.
This repetitive cycle each year led human civilizations to understand the world as an eternal and repetitive cycle, in which life dies and is reborn and dies and is reborn again.
In accordance with their respective mythologies, This cycle of four successive periods was imagined as a constant battle between divine or mythical forces as is the case of the arrangement between the Greek deities Hades and Demeter for the company of Persephone, wife of the former and daughter of the latter.
References
- “Summer” entry from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.
- “The archetype of summer in Greek mythology” on Eduardo Casas's Blog.
