Visualizing the Dance of the Seasons

November 2015 — One of nature’s most amazing displays is the wonderful dance we see every year — the changes in weather, climate, and biology that take place across the planet each season.

My colleagues at the Morrison Planetarium at the California Academy of Sciences have, as part our recent Habitat Earth production, produced some lovely videos that describe the seasons of our planet.

Below, their video describes — in beautiful detail — how seasons work in the first place, thanks to the configuration of Earth’s orbit around the sun.

You’ll never see a more beautiful description of how seasons work.

What’s even better, we can also see how the Earth’s biological systems — whether on land or in the ocean — respond to the changing seasons. The Cal Academy team animated satellite data showing changing patterns of vegetation “greenness” below.

But plants aren’t the only thing that change with the seasons. Birds, among other animals, change with the seasons too. Some stay put and deal with the changing conditions; many others migrate. Here, the Academy team shows the migration of ospreys and turkey vultures across the hemispheres, based on satellite tracking data.

These videos, and others, are now all available, for free, as part of Cal Academy’s educational programming. In fact, the entire Habitat Earth program, along with video clips and educator guides, is available here:

Please help share these resources with any teachers you may know! The world’s best scientific visualization products are now available — to any child, any teacher, any person interested in learning more — for free!

And a big thanks to Pisces Foundation, who helped make these resources available to the world, for free.