Early sunrise is not because of spring changes

Despite disagreements over the cause of the unusually premature rise of the sky on Greenland, the scientific community still agreed that it was a single phenomenon and not a sign of spring coming across the northern hemisphere. .

The sun rises in Greenland.Photo: flickr.com .

People in the town of Ilulissat in western Greenland Island were stunned to see the sun rise from the horizon on January 11, two days earlier than every year.

'The rise of the sun has not changed, because that only happens when the parameters of the orbit of the sun and the earth change , ' said Professor John Walsh, Dai's atmospheric expert. Alaska Fairbanks, speaking to Livescience.

Fairbanks, Alaska, is located on a 1-degree North latitude - far enough away for the sun to disappear during the winter. This is the most northernmost city in the United States. This year the sun still grows normally in Fairbanks like every year.

'Nothing is unusual in Fairbanks,' Walsh said.

Walsh and other scientists agree that there is no evidence that the Earth's axis shifts or any changes that make the seasons come sooner or later globally.

Scientists also exclude other causes, such as the impact of the upcoming leap year (2012). Thomas Posch, a researcher at the Austrian Astronomical Institute, says that when the leap year is coming, the sun rises in a lower position than usual in the northern hemisphere on January 11.

The highest possibility is the phenomenon of sunlight refraction on the horizon. Most scientists interviewed by Livescience agree that light refraction may be the culprit.

In fact, according to Walsh, this is a common phenomenon. The light 'breaks' as it passes through the air layers with different molecular densities. So people often feel the sun seems lower on the horizon when we see the first rays of sun. The air above Greenland is divided into more floors than other places, so sunlight is more refracted, making people feel the sun rises earlier than usual.