HFguy wrote:

Not sure who's distance theories you're referring to but I was replying
to the first poster's quote (above) about the distance of the sun from
the earth during the (northern) summer and winter, which as you
acknowledge, has nothing to do with the cause of the seasons.

I misunderstood the statement that "It only applies to the Northern
Hemisphere". The brain kept telling me that the whole planet is closer
to the Sun in winter, not just the Northern half. The distance the
planet is closer is far greater than the amount given by the precession.

My fault..please accept my humble apologies.

In fact
the southern summer and winter tend to be more extreme because the earth
happens to be closest and farthest from the sun respectively, during
those seasons in the southern hemisphere. We happen to live in an era
where this is the case. As the earth's axis precesses over a period of
26-thousand years, the seasons of the year when perihelion and aphelion
occur in each hemisphere slowly shifts. In about 13-thousand years from
now the situation will be reversed for each hemisphere.

I'll have to verify that...must leave note...Where is my acid free
papyrus.....





mike