Summer solstice: Longest day of the year means more heat for Karachiites

KARACHI:

With little respite from the heat, Mother Nature will throw yet another curveball our way as June 21 will be the longest day of the year, the summer solstice, meaning a few more minutes of heat for Karachiites.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the summer solstice, or June solstice, occurs when the sun is farthest north in the sky above the Tropic of Cancer, furthest away from the equator.

In many parts of the world the summer solstice marks the beginning of summer whereas in other parts, such as Karachi, it can probably be considered closer to midsummer.

Sunrise will take place at 5:42 am and sunset will occur at 7:25 pm on the June 21, providing sunlight for just over 13-and-a-half-hour during the day.

It is not necessary that the summer solstice take place on a single day every year, says Tauseef Alam from the meteorological department. “It is always around the same day every year, from June 20 till 22, but sometimes there is no difference and you have two days that are equally long or differ by only a second or less than a minute,” says Alam.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 21^st, 2012.