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Presumably the seasons would be more extreme with I'm guessing about double the annual variation we see today. The equator would see much higher sun angles at equinoxes than the solstices, so the double peak of insolation they receive today that is a mere curiosity would have a noticeable impact on tropical climate. The tropics would be cooler at solstices and hotter at equinoxes. Four-season climates would extend to much lower latitudes as would the winter snowpack, and higher latitudes would see warmer summers, likely substantially shrinking the permanent ice cap. On the other hand winter ice and snow extent would of course be much larger. Stronger autumn and spring storms are much more likely due to the higher temperature gradient available for them to tap into - Uranus, which has extreme obliquity, has been observed to do this.
Hotter summers would also raise water temperatures (and lower wind shear in the summer) at higher latitudes enabling hurricanes to travel much further north in the summer and autumn. The lowest latitudes of the hurricane belt may also see increased tropical cyclone activity near the equinoxes, particularly the autumn equinox, which is when tropical and temperate waters will both be at their (now much hotter) annual maximum. The spring equinox will see far more wind shear from the spring mid-latitude storms than today even in the deep tropics so while there would likely be be a "second season" its hurricane activity would be limited.
With regards to the sun angle, the arctic circle is now at 50 degrees rather than 67 degrees, which means that most of Canada and northern Europe experience the midnight sun in summer and the polar night in winter. Above 56 degrees will be civil polar night, where it's still night (as opposed to twilight) at midday on the winter solstice. Above 62 degrees nautical polar night is experienced, where on the winter solstice even at midday on the winter solstice there is no trace of daylight.
The tropics, on the other hand, now extend up to 40 degrees latitude, which means at the 40th parallel the sun is now directly overhead at the summer solstice. In the lower midlatitudes the noon sun will pass overhead in early summer, appear north of the zenith in midsummer, and then move back southward. In Chicago (40N) the sun would appear directly overhead on the summer solstice and the day would be 18 hours long, whereas on the winter solstice day would be 6 hours long and the sun would appear as low in the sky as it does in present-day Scotland.
At the equator the noon sun will be directly overhead at equinoxes and appear only 50 degrees up at the solstices - this is similar to the winter sun angle at Florida's latitude, so it's likely even the equator will have noticeable, if minor, seasonality in temperatures. Insolation will overall be a bit lower than today at the equator, so average temperatures will drop a few degrees, probably rising and falling about 10 degrees from the annual average between the two winters and the two summers. I'm guessing this because Florida cools 20 degrees or so over twice as long of a season. So instead of a constant 90 degrees at the equator a typical climate there will probably vary between 80 near the solstices and 90 near the equinoxes.
Last edited by Patricius Maximus; 11-13-2017 at 10:25 AM..
since at high latitudes, the bulk of sunlight comes in the high sun half of the year; so overall the annual average temperature would increase above 40°N or so. 10° or 20° sun barely does any warming.
The higher the sun is in the sky, the higher the sun angle is. If the sun is 30 degrees off the horizon, the sun angle is 30 degrees. The sun angle is not only the angle of the sun off the horizon, but it is also, believe it or not, the angle that the sun's rays hit the ground. Such an amazing coincidence. Really makes you wonder, don't you think? 🤔
I calculated the radiation fluxes the earth would get if the earth's tilt was at 45°. x-axis is months past winter solstice [so 6 = June 21]. Y-axis is W/m^2. You can see the high latitudes get lots of sunshine in the spring / summer
I'd imagine monsoonal influences, hurricanes could reach the high latitudes. And enough heat for northern oceans to really heat up. If you added the area under the cover, you'd find over the year, each latitude gets about the same amount of solar radiation.
And of top of that if it was tilted at 90 degrees, one pole would experience complete darkness and extremely cold, and the other hot and with 24 hour sunlight directly overhead. The best would be close to the equator, so you don't freeze or burn to death.
And of top of that if it was tilted at 90 degrees, one pole would experience complete darkness and extremely cold, and the other hot and with 24 hour sunlight directly overhead. The best would be close to the equator, so you don't freeze or burn to death.
No, it wouldn't. With a 90-degree tilt, the sun at the equator would hover near the horizon for most of the year, with short periods of normal day/night cycles every spring and fall. With such a low sun angle, the equatorial region would be unpleasantly cold for most of the year, similar to Siberia or Alaska on "normal" Earth.
Your best bet would be to live along the Earth's Tropics. Its climate would be similar to Scandinavia: cold but not horribly cold, with just enough warm months to make it bearable. There'd also be 24-hour darkness and midnight sun to match, with each period not being excessively long.
Your best bet would be to live along the Earth's Tropics. Its climate would be similar to Scandinavia: cold but not horribly cold, with just enough warm months to make it bearable. There'd also be 24-hour darkness and midnight sun to match, with each period not being excessively long.
Don't you mean subtropics?
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