The Sun in Alaska

The Sun in Alaska -

Where I live the Sun is viewed as a friend, it's reappearance after the long winter months is celebrated by many people. I have friends whose house is without Sun for 2 months in the winter, they celebrate the Sun's return with a party.

During the summer months it isn't very cold in Alaska, in fact in Fairbanks it gets up into the 90's during the summer. We do not have many problems with people getting skin cancer or photoaging in Alaska because the concentrations of Sun we receive are not great enough to cause these diseases.

In Anchorage during winter solstice it get's light around 9:00 a.m. and twilight falls at about 3:30 p.m.; but at the summer solstice light breaks at 3:30 a.m. and twilight falls around 1:30 a.m. it never really gets dark during the month of June. In areas further north the variations between summer and winter are more extreme.

Overall the Sun is viewed as a friend in Alaska; with it's presence viewed as an opportunity to get outdoors after the long winter months and its absence viewed as an opportunity to enjoy "The Last Frontier" in winter.

By: Elizabeth Beckett

The Sun in New York -

As a New Yorker I would have to say that for the most part the Sun is viewed as a friend rather than a foe. Even though some people would view it as a foe.

In the warm sunny summer days in New York, you can walk down the streets and see them packed with people. In the parks and on the beaches many people can be seen soaking up the Sun's rays. Over here the Sun is a fairly constant thing. With the hours of light and dark balanced.

However the Sun's heat is a foe. While it's good for the beach and parks and other activities. It's bad on electricity. When the heat rises so does the amount of power being used on air conditioners. This occasionally leads to power failures, leaving places like hospitals in the heat.

But all in all the Sun is a friend whom many people look forward to seeing at the end of the cold winters.

By: Holly Bernitt

The Sun in India -

The Sun in India

Because India is so close the the equator the rays of the Sun tend to be very strong and hot. This tends to make life a little difficult especially during the hot, rainy, monsoon period when it becomes very opressive. As a result most of the daily activities are scheduled in the cooler times of the day such as early morning and later evening. This fact is highlighted by the late dinner time around 9 or 10 pm.

However tolerance levels of heat amongst the people is much higher and we will generally find that if needed people do not hesitate to go out in the Sun. However you would rarely find people indulging in activities such as sunbathing and sitting out in the Sun to get a tan.

Even in practical day to day activities the Sun plays a very important role. In India though washing machines are very popular but dryers have not caught on at all...the Sun is still the preferred and most popular form of drying clothes and will remain to be for some time.

India also was the first country and still remains one of the only countries that has introduced commercial use of solar cookers in households and that is not amongst the urban rich (which we would find in the west... but amongst the rural poor as an economy measure.

The Sun also has a major role to play in Hindu mythology Surya Dev, the Hindu Sun god is a very powerful and respected god and there is even a yogia exercise, the surya namaskar, which is done to reap the maximum benefits from the Suns rays....

Thus it is noticed that though the Sun at times may be a little difficult on the people it is indeed very respected and revered throughout india.

By: Vishwa Chandra

         
           

©Copyright 1998 Elizabeth Beckett, Holly Bernitt, and Vishwa Chandra.