Summer Solstice

Summer Solstice, The summer solstice occurs when the tilt of a planet’s semi-axis, in either the northern or the southern hemisphere, is most inclined toward the star (sun) that it orbits. Earth’s maximum axial tilt toward the sun is 23° 26′. This happens twice each year, at which times the sun reaches its highest position in the sky as seen from the north or the south pole.

The summer solstice occurs during a hemisphere’s summer. This is northern solstice in the northern hemisphere and the southern solstice in the southern hemisphere. Depending on the shift of the calendar, the summer solstice occurs some time between December 20 and December 23 each year in the southern hemisphere and between June 20 and June 22 in the northern hemisphere in reference to UTC.

Though the summer solstice is an instant in time, the term is also colloquially used like midsummer to refer to the day on which it occurs. The summer solstice occurs on the day that has the longest period of daylight – except in the polar regions, where daylight is continuous, from a few days to six months around the summer solstice.

Worldwide, interpretation of the event has varied among cultures, but most recognize the event in some way with holidays, festivals, and rituals around that time with themes of religion or fertility.

Solstice is derived from the Latin words sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still).

Summer Solstice, First Day of Summer

Summer Solstice, First Day of Summer –Huffington Post — On June 21, the sun reaches its highest point in the sky, the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the longest day of the year. The summer solstice is like a giant celestial metronome, marking the arrival of the season and the passage of years with precise regularity. Mankind has celebrated monuments and built to date in the world and since time immemorial, the Neolithic culture of Stonehenge, the Mayans at Chichen Itza.

The solstice always keeps a steady pace, but in recent times, the pace of summer has been increasingly out of sync. When the climate warmed in recent decades, high temperatures arrived earlier on average, and a symphony of seasonal events with them, plant in bloom dates of migration of animals to achieve higher levels of flow in rivers fed by snow. Nowhere is this more evident than accelerating in the Arctic – the region most rapid warming of the planet.

One of the most dramatic changes on the surface of the Earth each year is the growth of winter and summer melt-back of Arctic sea ice – like a giant white flower opening and closing the top of the world. Based on satellite measurements taken over a base period of 1980-2000, the ice covering the Arctic Ocean beaches from a peak in late winter average of about 6 million square miles (more than twice the size of the 48 states), at least one type of late been much less than half that. The merger is growing by the summer solstice, every year when the average base-ice extent of about 4.6 million square miles.

But this year, according to NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center, the melting-back reaches that level in June 1, three weeks ago and since then has been at record levels for the period. This is particularly noteworthy because in April, stretches of ice per day hovered very close to the average baseline levels (as noted at the time by some commentators eager to suggest the world is not warming) . In other words, the ice retreated with exceptional speed in May – a speed close to the average rate of melting of July.

The record heat temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere this spring, recently announced by the National Climatic Data Center, and particularly in high latitudes, probably contributed to this rate. But more than weather this year is likely to play. It was widely reported that the coverage of Arctic sea ice has contracted in recent decades overall, for a month of your choice. It is least often mentioned as the sea ice has thinned over the same period – apparently faster than it fell in the region. It also seems to be large areas of “rotten” ice, filled with holes like Swiss cheese, where the satellite data did not distinguish between thick layers in strong health instead. Currently, an expedition led by NASA’s Arctic continues to investigate.

load of thin ice and rotten dice for the kind of ice retreat we see seasonal faster this year, and less Arctic sea ice coverage overall. This means that the ocean darker exposed to absorb heat from the sun for an extended period of time in a cycle that promotes further warming and melting Arctic.

But why should we take care of the frozen crust of an ocean away? The big question for Americans, as we move towards a national debate on energy policy and climate, is what comes after.

For this, we could look to Greenland, a sleeping giant of the Arctic, whose influence may extend all the way to our shores. Like melting ice does not change the level of water in a glass melting Arctic sea ice contributes essentially nothing to rising sea level, but when Greenland loses its ice on land in the ocean, it does raise the sea level – and Greenland has enough ice to make WinCE coastal city.

In other words, if the cycle is to increase the loss of Arctic ice and contributes to regional warming over the loss of Greenland ice, we would do well to pay special attention to the changing rhythms summer in the Arctic where they race ahead of the metronome solstice.

First Day of Summer

First Day of Summer –The first day of summer brings plenty of sunshine with temperatures in the low nineties today and most of the week.

There are no reported delays on trains and buses NJ Transit or local airports.

Today: Sunny with a high near 91 and a low of about 65.

Tuesday: Sunny with a high near 88 and a low of about 69.

Wednesday: Chance of showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy with a high near 93 and a low of about 72.

Thursday: A chance of showers and chance of thunderstorms after 8:00 Cloudy with a high near 87 and a low around 65.

Friday: Sunny with a high near 89 and a low around 64.

The summer solstice is considered the first day of summer is here and you need to celebrate this moment as our ancestors used since prehistoric times.

If you prefer the big events, you can go alone or with friends at the annual Solstice Parade was held in Santa Barbara, an event that is extremely exciting and colorful, which attracts over 100,000 spectators each year.

The Solstice Parade encourages art in all its forms and the free expression of human beings.

Others more adventurous can travel in the United Kingdom and take part in the event which takes place on Salisbury Plain, the site of the famous monument of Stonehenge.

But you can still celebrate the longest day of the year in your garden with your friends and family, build a bonfire, sing, dance and simply enjoy life and sunshine, warm days that follow.

Flag Day

Flag Day:It is time to honor the oldest symbol and most important temple of our country of America. Monday, June 14th is Flag Day, the start of the National Flag week. The history of this uniquely American celebration is deeply ingrained in the annals of American history, dating back almost 250 years.

Century 18
The June 14th, 1777, the Grand Union Flag was raised by the Continental Congress to fly the Union Jack rather than the British. The Grand Union was deployed for the first time on January 1, 1776 at the headquarters of the Continental Army. This flag is widely accepted as the first flag of our nation. It was replaced by the stars and Stripes design (which has transformed dozens of times for the design of stars 50-present).

Century 19
Americans have been formally holding Flag Day on June 14, 1877, just 12 years after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. During the presidency of Rutherford Hayes, the first ordered flags to be flown from all government buildings on June 14, 1877, to commemorate the centenary of the adoption of the Grand Union, first flew one hundred years earlier.

20th Century
In 1949, President Harry Truman officially proclaimed June 14 as Flag Day. Deemed too close to Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day, the honor has not been adopted as a federal holiday, instead of meeting the President made an official announcement of each year, allowing each state to choose for itself how to celebrate the occasion.

Finally, in 1966, Congress passed a resolution declaring the week that falls to the June 14 National Flag Week, which runs every Flag Day honors to last a whole week.

Interesting Facts flag
1. The U.S. flag is said to be the world’s most recognizable flag, and places in the top 20 most recognizable symbols around the world and logos.

2. It is one of the flags to more complicated, taking more than 64 individual pieces of fabric to complete. It has changed designs more frequently than any other flag in the world.

3. It’s Alive! Under the Code of the flag, the American flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living being. (United States Code Title 4 Chapter 1 [8j]). As such, it is appropriate to fly a flag that has fewer than 50 stars or more than 13 stripes. It is proper etiquette to fly any flag that at some point in American history was the actual “life” active flag.

4. The Boy Scouts of America is one of the service organizations a select few authorized to give final honors to a flag. Flag States, United States Code “The flag, when in condition such that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified manner, preferably by burning.” These ceremonies are carefully choreographed and performed with precision and care, often ends with a somber note.