What effect does axis tilt have on a planet?

Question

If Earth had a more vertical axis compared to the Sun, for example, what would change?

Answer 1

At high latitudes near the Summer/Winter Solstices the daylight period of of the day would be shorter than it is currently because the Earth would not need to rotate as far between the sunrise/sunset points.



Assuming some axis tilt, the seasons would still happen and have durations that are about what they are now. The climatic zones (arctic, temperate, and tropical),would shift towards the equator with the arctic zones reaching lower latitudes that they do now. Vegetation and wild life habitats would also shift towards the equator where topography did not block the movements. Wild life migration patterns would also be affected.



The polar caps would increase in size and the Earth's average temperature would drop. We would be running from more moose and polar bears at low latitudes than we do now. Penguins might be able to walk to Australia.



Ocean currents would likely change their flow paths and effects on global weather patterns.



We would need to recognize a new pole star. The rising and setting of the Sun, Moon, Stars and planets would occur at new points along our horizons. The Moon's orbit would shift to realign with the Earth's change in position. While it is shifting its orbit there would be a change in the length of the Earth's day as the angular momentum of the Earth-Moon system changed.



Be careful what you wish for.

Answer 2

In the particular case of the earth, the main difference would be on day-length and on the seasons (especially at high latitudes, in each case). By the way, 'vertical' isn't really the right term. I think you mean 'perpendicular to the ecliptic plane'.



If the planes of the earth's revolution and rotation were exactly the same, then the period from sunrise to sunset would be almost the same (allowing for local geography like hills getting in the way) at all times of year and at all points on the globe. At the poles, the sun would be right on the horizon all year. There would be no summer, autumn, winter or spring as we know them.



There would be other minor effects as well, such as on the tides, but these would be the main ones.

Answer 3

opposite to the ordinary concept that the substitute in seasons is using the eccentricity of the earth's orbit, the substitute in seasons is certainly the effect of the lean of the earth's axis which, interior of a truly couple of minutes, does not substitute orientation. (It takes approximately 60,000 years for an entire reversal of the lean). for the period of iciness interior the northern hemisphere, the north pole is tilted outward from the sunlight, subsequently much less photograph voltaic radiation consistent with unit time reaches north (longer nighttime time than sunlight hours) and so iciness. yet at present of the twelve months that's summer season south. there is not any significant effect of the orbit's eccentricity on the seasons, and this way of effect does not be cutting-edge in a wonderfully centric and around orbit. of direction you could constantly create a guy made iciness circumstance in a constrained area in the worldwide with snow-making machines or make the area as warm as summer season, yet on a worldwide scale, it may no longer be available. Our technologies have not yet reached a factor the place we can regulate the orientation of our planet.

Answer 4

The tilt is the cause of seasons, not the distance of the Sun from the Earth.



http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications/astronomical-information-center/seasons-orbit



http://www.astronomy.org/programs/seasons/

Answer 5

It creates seasonal variation. More extreme tilt = more extreme seasonal variation.