> > Which is due, of course, to the fact that the sun is hotter (and
> > brighter, and larger) in the summer and colder (and dimmer) in the
winter.
>
>Mythic, but OK. It's a simple explanation. I don't know if it's
>necessary to cycle the solar power level; if the days are longer in
>summer and shorter in winter, the different weather may simply be due
>to getting more solar energy in summer and less in winter-just like on
>earth.
>
>If the solar heat's on for 16 hours, and off for 8, you get warmer
>weather. If the solar heats on for 8 hours and off for 16, you get
>cooler weather, without having to jigger the heater output.
I forget if there is a longer day in the summer, though I would like it
to be so (got that Alex?)
> > >Yelm's path arcs far up north during summer, and far down south
> > > during winter (so it can actually be Summer in Pamaltela when it's
> > > winter in Genertela).
> >
> > The sun does move its arc north in the summer and south in the winter,
> > in relation to the sky dome; AND the dome tilts farther south---much
> > farther---in the winter.
>
>OK. These two explanations appear to be mutually exclusive. One
>explains seasons in terms of varying solar output, one in terms of
>varying solar paths (like axial tilt on earth.) Varying the solar
>path contradicts the statement that the sun appears directly overhead
>everywhere at noon.
Not my statement. YGWV.
>I was under the impression that the calender
Actually, the 5-season calendar is particular to Dragon Pass and places that adopted it from them. The Dara Happans have a 4-season calendar with 10-day weeks.
>and seasons were the same
>everywhere on Glorantha, with the entire lozenge experiencing the same
>seasons at the same time.
Not my Glorantha. It is hotter in Pamaltela all the time, due to the relative proximity of the Sea of Fire, and the fact that fire pours out of the dome when it is tilted in the winter.
>Cycling solar output up and down
>(directly, or by length of day, or both) explains that nicely. It
>also fits with everyone on Glorantha using the same seasonal calender,
>which only makes sense if everyone is experiencing the same seasons
>at the same time.
As I said, they don't.
>Likewise, I was under the impression that length of day varies with
>the seasons, but it does so uniformly, all across the lozenge,
>explained in simple terms that the sun really DOES take longer to
>cross in summer than in winter. My working assumption has been that
>nights are correspondingly shorter or longer, and the total day
>duration (noon to noon) stays the same, regardless of how it breaks up
>into daylight and night.
I think that's so.
>Given Gorantha's relatively tiny size,
You are of course speaking of the relatively tiny area inhabited by human beings at the center of the lozenge. It extends much, much farther out at the edges. Maybe someone can quote the distance that some Eastern hero sailed (swam?) to reach the eastern gate.
>My first impression would be that using a variable solar path to drive
>seasons would be difficult to make work.
Hey wait a darn minnit here, are you STILL trying to be scientific here? :-D
--
Greg Stafford
President, Issaries. Inc.
Love without reserve,
Enjoy without restraint,
Live without dead time.
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