Question

The change in seasons on the earth occurs because
A. The distance between the Earth and the Sun is not constant.
B. The axis of rotation of the Earth is parallel to the plane of its orbit.
C. The axis of the rotation on the Earth is perpendicular to the plane of its orbit.
D. The axis of rotation of the Earth is tilted with respect to the plane of its orbit.

Answer 1

Hint: This question is related to rotating the earth around the sun and tilting of the earth and its effects which leads to changes in atmosphere, day and night and many more.

Complete Step-by-Step solution:
During the year, the seasons are changing depending on the sunlight reaching the Earth as it revolves around the sun. These changes in season are caused by the Earth as it is tilted on its axis, and travels in a loop around the Sun each year.
The hemisphere of the Earth is tilted towards or away from the Sun and because of that there are different seasons we are experiencing in a whole year. Summer season happens in the hemisphere tilted towards the sun and winter happens in the hemisphere tilted away from the sun. The hemisphere which is tilted toward the sun is warmer because sunrays travels directly to the surface of Earth, so they get less scattered in the atmosphere. So, we face summer in the Northern hemisphere and winter in the Southern hemisphere.
Thus, option (d) is the correct answer.

Additional information:
Because of tilting of the hemisphere, we experience longer days in summer than during winter and shorter nights. So, generally if we travel away from the equator, we face a cooler atmosphere as compared to summer. At the equator, there are no seasons because each day the Sun falls at the same angle and everyday it receives 12 hours of sunlight. The poles remain cool because they are never tilted in the path of sunlight.
During winter, when a pole is tilted away from the sun, there is no daylight at all. So, sun rays are not reaching there at all. However, in summer, a pole receives sunlight all the time and there is no night.

Note: Do not assume tilting of Earth with respect to the plane of the orbit, same as the distance between sun and earth. Generally, students misunderstand this concept and select the wrong answer. So, first try to understand what is tilting and then it will be easy to select the correct option. Also, the relation between tilting of Earth and equator passing from middle both are different terms and have different impacts on climate change.