By Brian Boone
After months of winter, there’s once again that distinct, crispy bite in the air, one that smells like fresh flowers, cut grass… and misinformation. Uncle John has emerged from his hibernation to debunk some commonly held misconceptions about the science of spring.
Myth: Spring begins on March 20th or 21st every year.
Truth: Astronomically, spring starts on March 20th or 21st, which date upon which the vernal or spring equinox falls. In Latin, equinox means “equal light,” and it refers to the time of year when the Earth’s relative position to the sun creates just about 12 hours of day and 12 hours of darkness in most locales. In terms of weather science and record-keeping, spring starts on March 1, every year.
Myth: The light in spring means there’s an exact equal amount of daylight and nighttime.
Truth: Starting on the vernal equinox, the days get a little more light every day as the Earth revolves around the sun. But even on day one of spring, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll experience an exact, perfect mix of day and night. The planet isn’t a perfect sphere, and particular elevation and latitude effects just how long your day may be.
Myth: There’s a scientific basis to the idea that people and animals get more, uh, charged up, in the springtime.
Truth: It was the great poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson who said, “In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.” Love and romance may be in the air, and indicators like blooming flowers, pollinating bees, and birds pairing up suggest a general increase in the collective libido, but everyone’s just imagining things. Mating cycles and reproductive drives of most mammals, including humans, operate on a six-month cycle, not yearly. Those particular, well, feelings, actually ramp up in the winter and summer months.
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Myth: Spring is the second-warmest season, trailing only the famously hot summer.
Truth: Just because the sun is visible in a clear blue sky doesn’t mean it’s making the surface any warmer. It takes a while for climates to move out of the coldness of winter; fall is actually warmer than spring.
Myth: Spring colds are a big reason why people get sick, and the sudden change in temperature is to blame.
Truth: Colds are spread by a virus, not being out in cold weather. Secondly, as we learned in the previous entry, spring doesn’t suddenly get hot. Any cold symptoms one is experiencing in March and April are more than likely the result of seasonal allergies, exacerbated by all that pollen in the air put there by active bees and birds.