October to February

[shermarama]

The 15th of October to the 26th of February. That's the period during which the angle of the noon-day sun in Rotterdam never reaches 29.7 degrees, which is the zenith angle of the sun on the shortest day of the year in Auckland. That whole four-plus-month period, in terms of solar efficacy, never exists in Auckland. This photo of long shadows at

Comments

[braisedbywolves]

*makes plans to visit Holland before next winter*

[shermarama]

You should do that, aye.

[shermarama]

I think I'm fairly unbothered by the volcanic stuff, myself. I know the earthquake down in Christchurch was devastating, but it's not like there's anywhere that's completely safe from devastating things, and I'd rather enjoy the time inbetween...

[ultraruby]

Ach, I hear you. I feel like the older I get the more like a plant I become, wilting for lack of sunlight.

[shermarama]

This winter seems to be knocking a lot of people down. I'm fairly certain I'm making things worse for myself by looking up all this stuff about climates and latitudes and sunset times and UV doses and the like, but the more I look, the more the UK becomes a little stormy island stuck ridiculously far into the northern darkness, saved only by the happenstances of the jet and Gulf streams. I'm beginning to wonder if part of the problem with winter comes from the mismatch between our mental image of where we are and what it should be like there compared with the reality of the numbers.