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The sun is closest to you directly overhead. If you stand under it, it will feel hot for sure. However, it takes a while for enough heat to accumulate and get trapped in the earth's atmosphere. That's why it is hotter a little later in the day.
OK Guys. I certainly understand the heat sink thing but let me push back a bit. Heat only accumulate on solid surfaces, not on lawn and certainly not on trees or plants. If you go out and touch your plants it's certainly not "hot to touch".
If it's the heat sink thing. Why don't places like Alaska, where sun shines 24 hours a day in summer burn up the place? By your theory, it should've be 100s of degrees after the "heat accumulates" for over a month.
Again, this question stems from gardening. Why do some garden experts call for shades over plants "for afternoon sun"? Why is the sun intensity stronger in desert places like Phoenix vs places with trees like Alabama?
OMG has nobody heard of things lie the earth's rotation around the sun, tilt, seasons, etc.? SMH
This is where you're wrong.
Have you heard of heat (or cooling) effects from convection ? As the earth rotate, the atmosphere creates a shear layer effects called "wind". The wind mixes cooler part of atmosphere with heated air by the sun more effectively & faster than others mode of transferring heat/ cold.
Also for those of you who argue that the mid-day sun is strongest as it's "directly overhead", implying it's because the shortest distance between the sun and the ground, whereas the afternoon sun's intensity much of it is absorbed by more air. It's a geometry thing, I get what you're saying.
But if that's true then, according to your theory the distance furtherest from the sun should be cooler, for example, places that is below the sea level (such as the Death Valley) vs. places that's closest to the sun, such as the peak of Mt. Whitney. We all know that's not true.
Have you heard of heat (or cooling) effects from convection ? As the earth rotate, the atmosphere creates a shear layer effects called "wind". The wind mixes cooler part of atmosphere with heated air by the sun more effectively & faster than others mode of transferring heat/ cold.
Also for those of you who argue that the mid-day sun is strongest as it's "directly overhead", implying it's because the shortest distance between the sun and the ground, whereas the afternoon sun's intensity much of it is absorbed by more air. It's a geometry thing, I get what you're saying.
But if that's true then, according to your theory the distance furtherest from the sun should be cooler, for example, places that is below the sea level (such as the Death Valley) vs. places that's closest to the sun, such as the peak of Mt. Whitney. We all know that's not true.
The literal distance between the sun and any point of the earth is meaningless. That's the old George Carlin joke about the rice krispies at the top drying out the quickest.
There's a difference between the solar energy of the sun and the ambient temperature.
OK Guys. I certainly understand the heat sink thing but let me push back a bit. Heat only accumulate on solid surfaces, not on lawn and certainly not on trees or plants. If you go out and touch your plants it's certainly not "hot to touch".
Even the blades of grass are hotter in the late afternoon than they are just before dawn...they still absorb some heat. But unlike earth and rocks, plants have internal cooling systems: Moisture evaporation and oxygen outgassing.
Quote:
If it's the heat sink thing. Why don't places like Alaska, where sun shines 24 hours a day in summer burn up the place? By your theory, it should've be 100s of degrees after the "heat accumulates" for over a month.
Again, this question stems from gardening. Why do some garden experts call for shades over plants "for afternoon sun"? Why is the sun intensity stronger in desert places like Phoenix vs places with trees like Alabama?
It's certainly possible for more than one thing to be happening. The sun is always at a lower angle in Alaska, relative to the rest of the US, so peak temperatures will be lower. At the same time, the rest of the physics are the same. Even in Alaska, the peak daytime temperature is reached in the late afternoon, including toward the ends of the longest days.
OK Guys. I certainly understand the heat sink thing but let me push back a bit. Heat only accumulate on solid surfaces, not on lawn and certainly not on trees or plants. If you go out and touch your plants it's certainly not "hot to touch".
If it's the heat sink thing. Why don't places like Alaska, where sun shines 24 hours a day in summer burn up the place? By your theory, it should've be 100s of degrees after the "heat accumulates" for over a month.
Again, this question stems from gardening. Why do some garden experts call for shades over plants "for afternoon sun"? Why is the sun intensity stronger in desert places like Phoenix vs places with trees like Alabama?
Everything holds heat. Even lawns. How is a lawn not solid? Is it a gas? A liquid? A plasma?
The green leaves convert sunlight & CO2 to energy and O2. So part of sun's intensity does not generate heat.
Photosynthesis makes leaves not a solid? All solids accept and give off heat at different rates of thermal transfer regardless of what chemical reaction may happen as well.
Look at a meter on a solar install. The amount of electricity it generates on any given day will not necessarily be at the same time as the highest ambient temperature.
Does sunlight not have the capability to generate photovoltaic electricity in a cold climate?
Look at a meter on a solar install. The amount of electricity it generates on any given day will not necessarily be at the same time as the highest ambient temperature.
Does sunlight not have the capability to generate photovoltaic electricity in a cold climate?
So that tells you there are more things at work than just the sun angle.
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