Hi,
Two years ago, Tim Entwhistle, Director of the Sydney Botanic
Gardens, suggested, on the basis of plant 'behaviour' that in Oz we have
five seasons, including two new ones: sprinter and sprummer.
"I reckon there are 5 seasons. There's an early spring, which I call
Sprinter - August and September, there's a Sprummer which comes after
that for 2 months - October and November. There's a long summer which
goes right from December through to March, a short autumn, a short
winter - both just two months long and then you're back at Sprinter."
He explains what he means by Sprinter. "Spring in Australia,
particularly in southern Australia, comes a bit earlier - it comes in
about August. That's really when we start to see things flowering.
It's the time of year we see change."
"Sprummer is a season between Sprinter - this early spring - and
summer, but it's a changeable season. One of the interesting things
with Sprummer is that it's quite windy in lots of parts of Australia,
you get hot weather and cold weather. It's a really transition time
between Sprinter and Summer."
http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s4133457.htm
I'm all in favour of local and realistic definitions--and names-- of the
seasons...and I quite like sprinter and sprummer!
Oh: and to keep the discussion firmly on topic, here are two small
pix of a seasonal sundial in Canberra's Questicon museum which
correlates Aboriginal seasons with astronomical ones.
best wishes,
Peter
On 7/04/2016 7:10 AM, Michael Ossipoff wrote:
On Sun, Mar 6, 2016 at 2:52 PM, John Pickard <john.pick...@bigpond.com
<mailto:john.pick...@bigpond.com>> wrote:
Good morning all (and especially those in the Northern Hemisphere
still stuck in winter),
The following letter appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald
(Saturday 5 March 2016, p. 39)
"Still summer in Sydney.
It's hard not to be amused by the apparently genuine surprise
expressed this past week - mainly by television weather presenters
- at the high temperatures being recorded around the country 'in
the first week of autumn'. I'm not sure which authority declared
that autumn starts on March 1
In the U.S., our astronomers have proclaimed that summer begins with
the summer solstice, and that spring begins wit the spring equinox.
...proclaimed with absolutely no justification. It's become our
national definition of the seasons. I guess anything can mean anything
if you define it that way.
But, obvious to everyone (other than our astronomers and the
newscasters who parrot them), by the time June 21 arrives, it has been
summer for a long time.
It would be much more in keeping with our experience with the seasons
to say that Summer begins when June begins.
...and guess what? That's what they say in Australia. Australia
doesn't share our ridiculous notion of starting the seasons on the
solstices and equinoxes. In Australia, it's understood that Summer
begins when December begins, and that Winter begins when June begins.
But evidently it's still assumed that there are 4 seasons of equal length.
Here in the U.S., it's obvious that March isn't spring. Yes, there are
often _a few_ occasional indications that spring is approaching. But,
realistically, March would be better included in Winter, if we insist
on 4 seasons. Likewise, September tends to be a very summer-like.
If we must have 4 months, then it would be less inaccurate to say that
winter is December, January, February and March. ...and that summer
is June, July, August and September. Spring is April and May. Autumn
is October and November.
But, more realistically, because March can have _a few_ days that
somewhat preview spring (maybe with floral scents), March might
better be called "Pre-Spring". Likewise, September might be
better-called "Pre-Autumn"., because there does begin to be a bit
of cooling later in September. So, instead of 4 seasons, there are 6.
...with March and September being 1-month seasons.
The notion of 6 seasons isn't new. It's been proposed by people who
specialize in these matters.
; however the change of seasons is an immutable astronomical event...
Incorrect. The seasons of course result from astronomical causes, but
they aren't validly defined by astronomical events, such as equinoxes
and solstices.
resulting from a shift in the earth's axis each three months on
the two equinoxes and the two solstices, which coincide with the
human invented calendar dates of (approximately) March and
September 21; and June and December 21.
Human-invented yes. U.S. astronomer-invented (and media broadcaster
parroted).
So it has not been an amazingly hot start to "autumn'; it is still
summer and will be for nearly three more weeks.
Of course. If you're going to define 4 seasons, then March is part
of Southern Hemisphere summer. December through March.
But it would make even more sense to speak of March and September as
1-month seasons, as described above.
Michael Ossipoff
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http://www.arts.adelaide.edu.au/polis/
The University of Adelaide, AUSTRALIA 5005
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Fax : +61 8 8313 3443
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