What causes the seasons?
by 
nelle4life
ANSWERS: 9
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This question has been dealt with in a somewhat different question elsewhere. So, rather than repeat it here, I will just refer you to my answer at http://tinyurl.com/fcumw
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Because the Earth's axis is tilted 23½° with respect to its orbit around the sun. In June, the northern hemisphere gets sunlight more than half the time, while the southern hemisphere gets less. In December it's the reverse: the north pole is tilted away from the sun while the south pole is tilted toward it. In Australia, Christmas is during summer! The earth's orbit, while close to circular, is actually a slightly eccentric ellipse. The earth's closest approach to the sun (perihelion) is in January.
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You see the Earth isn't spinning vertically, it is about 23.439 281 degrees off. This means that when it is one side of the Sun the hemisphere closest to the Sun will experince a warmer climate (summer) than the hemisphere farther away (winter). When the Earth gets on the other side of the Sun the hemispheres have swapped position of closest and thus have swapped season. Look at the diagram:
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The rain shadow.
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The tited axis, and the effect of the tilted axis.
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In very basic terms, the fact that the earth wobbles on its axis, putting in turn the northern, then the southern hemisphere more directly pointing at the sun.
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Gangs of Ninja's holding secret weather creating machines developed by oil companies in line with George W. Bush. Bush has the button to set the changes into motion, but Cheney has to explain to him how to push it... Cause Bush is dumb. (this answer provided courtesy of the supporters of the DNC)
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Basically, the axis of the earth is not perpendicular to the Sun, therefore the amount of energy received from the Sun, at any particular point, constantly varies as the Earth rotates around it.
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The Earth's tilt toward or away from the sun.
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