The inspiration for Leonardo DiCaprio's feature documentary movie The Eleventh Hour and soon to be released HBO special Ice on Fire, Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight details what is happening to our planet, the reasons for our culture's blind behavior, and how we can fix the problem. A tunnel facing the solstice sunrise runs to a main chamber, and a small window bathes the chamber in solstice light for 17 minutes.About the Book In this passionate and visionary call to enlightened consciousness, Hartmann combines spirituality and ecology to point the way to a luminous future for the planet.īook Synopsis While everything appears to be collapsing around us - ecodamage, genetic engineering, virulent diseases, the end of cheap oil, water shortages, global famine, wars - we can still do something about it and create a world that will work for us and for our children's children.
One example is Newgrange, a huge tomb mound built in Ireland around 3200 B.C., about a thousand years before Stonehenge. Ancient solstice sitesĪncient people built many monuments to celebrate the winter solstice. That’s why the word solstice can be translated to "sun stands still' in Latin. In fact, during the days around the winter solstice, the sun is so low on the horizon that it appears to rise and set in the same place. During winter in the Northern Hemisphere, the North Pole is tilted away from the sun, so the height of the arc is low-and your shadow looks long. As our planet orbits, one pole is tilted toward the sun, and one pole is tilted away from it. The height of that arc changes during Earth’s yearly orbit around the sun. Here’s why:Įvery day, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, tracing an arc across the sky. On the winter solstice, if you stand outside at noon and look at your shadow, it will be the longest shadow you cast the entire year. That’s because the Earth’s land and water takes time to cool down. But the coldest temperatures are often still at least a month away, depending on where you live. One myth is that the winter solstice is the coldest day of the year. Scientists often tie it to the calendar, so that winter falls during the latter part of December, January, February, and the early part of March.
In the United States, winter lasts about 90 days. Each year, meteorologists-people who study weather and climate-determine the first day of the winter season based on temperature records. But there’s a difference between the winter solstice-called the astronomical first day of winter-and the first day of the winter season, which is called the meteorological first day of winter. solsticesįor many people, the winter solstice marks the changing of fall to winter. For instance, in New Zealand, it can actually snow in July! Seasons vs. That’s because the seasons are reversed below the Equator. Called the summer solstice, it usually occurs between June 20 and June 22.įor people who live in the Southern Hemisphere, though, the winter solstice takes place in June. But the good news is that every day after the winter solstice will be a little longer, until we reach the day with the most hours of daylight. It usually happens on December 21 or 22, at the exact same second around the world.īecause less sunlight reaches Earth, the winter solstice is also the day of the year with the least amount of daytime, known as the shortest day of the year. The winter solstice marks the exact moment when half of Earth is tilted the farthest away from the sun. Brr! For people in the Northern Hemisphere (above the Equator, like the United States), winter is a season of cold, dark days-and if you’re lucky, lots of snow to sled on! (Check out Weird But True! facts about winter.)