Astronomical seasons are precise, based on exact celestial coordinates. However, their start dates can vary by a day or two each year, and they don't perfectly align with the temperatures we feel (due to a phenomenon called "seasonal lag").
Finally, seasons are defined by human tradition. In many Western cultures, seasons are tied to holidays (Christmas as the heart of winter, Easter as spring). However, other cultures have different splits. For instance, some Indigenous cultures in North America recognize up to six or seven distinct seasons (e.g., "break-up" season between winter and spring). In Hindu and Buddhist calendars, there are six seasons ( Ritu ), each lasting two months. definition of seasons
We define Summer as the season of leisure, of long days and short nights. But in its purest form, Summer is the season of exposure. When the sun hangs high and unblinking, there is nowhere to hide. Astronomical seasons are precise, based on exact celestial
We are taught the definition early, usually in the quiet scratch of chalk on a blackboard or the crisp pages of a grade-school textbook. We learn that a season is a division of the year, marked by changes in weather, ecology, and the amount of daylight. We memorize the quadrants: the awakening of Spring, the blaze of Summer, the harvest of Autumn, the silence of Winter. We learn the science of axial tilt and orbital mechanics. In many Western cultures, seasons are tied to
As Earth travels around our star, the Northern and Southern Hemispheres alternate in leaning toward or away from the sun. When your hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, you experience summer (longer days, more direct sunlight). When tilted away , you get winter (shorter days, indirect sunlight). Spring and autumn are the transitional periods, occurring when the tilt is sideways relative to the sun.
The meteorological definition tells us Autumn is the cooling of the earth. But the human definition of Autumn is the art of letting go.
In the Arctic and Antarctic, the year is often viewed in terms of "Light" and "Dark" seasons due to the phenomena of the Midnight Sun and Polar Night.