What Impact Does Aphelion Have on the Weather?

The planet we call home is cruising at approximately 67,000 miles toward what is known as aphelion. Earth will reach this point at 3:41 pm EDT this afternoon. Perihelion occurred on January 4.

So what does the word aphelion mean? The AMS Glossary defines it as: "the point on the orbit of the earth (or any other body in orbit around the sun) that is farthest from the sun; the opposite of perihelion."

The words originate from ancient Greece, with peri meaning close and apo meaning far away. Helios stands for sun.

As the graphic above indicates, the difference in miles from the sun between the extreme points in the eccentricity of the Earth is about 3.1 million miles. That seems like a lot, right? That amount of difference has to have a noticeable impact on the weather across the planet, one would think.

However, that is not the case. Seasonal variations in the weather play a much greater role. When the Earth is closest to the sun, the tilt of our planet's axis is away from the sun. The northern hemisphere is in the throes of winter and the coldest temperatures of the year, while the southern hemisphere is their summer season.

The same doesn't hold true for other planets, which is a reminder of how extraordinary our planet is. It is just the right distance away from the sun for life to be sustainable.

When Mars is at perihelion, the planet is warmer and its signature dust storms are more frequent and longer lasting.

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