For almost all of the Americas, spring 2020 starts late in the evening on Thursday 19th March. Much of the rest of the world will see its arrival in the early hours of Friday 20th March. In the Maltese Islands, spring will arrive at approximately 4:50 a.m. on Friday 20th March. The beginning of spring is known as the spring equinox, or vernal equinox. To people who live in Earth’s northern hemisphere, this means increasingly warm and brighter days that come with the pending arrival of summer. For those in the southern hemisphere, though, it’s autumn. The days are growing shorter, the weather is cooling off, and sunlight is growing dimmer as winter approaches. What drives this all-important seasonal clock? Technically, two things: Earth’s tilted axis and the planet’s orbit around the sun. The Earth orbits the sun once every 365 days and 6 hours. Our planet also rotates once per day around a tilted axis. That tilt is about 23.5 degrees and bathes different parts of the world with various intensities of light over the course of a year. These various intensities of light over the course of a year are referred to as seasons. During the equinox, the sun’s rays shine directly over the equator, with an equally long day and night in both hemispheres. The equinox occurs twice annually, in March and September. From now till 21st June, the sun will rise from a more northeasterly direction and set from a more northwesterly direction. The sun will become brighter and the UV Index will increase as it rises higher in the sky. In a week’s time, we will move time forward by one hour. Daylight Saving Time starts on Sunday 29th March, marking an important step in the transition to summer. Starting on Sunday 29th March, there will be more light in the evening.

Għal ħafna mill-kontinent Amerikan, ir-rebbiegħa ta’ l-2020 tibda tard filgħaxija tal-Ħamis 19 ta’ Marzu. Il-bqija tad-dinja timmarka l-bidu tar-rebbiegħa fis-siegħat bikrijin tal-Ġimgħa 20 ta’ Marzu. Fil-Gżejjer Maltin, l-istaġun tar-rebbiegħa jibda għal ħabta ta’ 4:50 a.m. tal-Ġimgħa 20 ta’ Marzu. Il-bidu tar-rebbiegħa huma magħruf bħala l-ewkwinozju tar-rebbiegħa, jew ekwinozju vernali. Għan nies li jgħixu fl-emisfera tat-Tramuntana tad-Dinja, dan l-avveniment astronomiku jindika l-wasla ta’ ġranet dejjem aktar sħan u sbieħ li jiġu mal-wasla tas-sajf. Għal dawk fl-emisfera tan-Nofsinhar tad-Dinja, waslet il-ħarifa. Il-ġranet qed jiqsaru, it-temp qed jiksaħ, u d-dawl tax-xemx qed jiddgħajjef. X’iwassal għal dan l-arloġġ staġjonali importanti? Żewġ affarijiet: l-inklinazzjoni fil-pern tad-Dinja u l-orbita tal-pjaneta madwar ix-xemx. Id-Dinja ddur dawra sħiħa madwar ix-xemx darba kull 365 jum u 6 sigħat. Il-pjaneta tagħna iddur fuqha innifisha madwar pern inklinat darba kull 24 siegħa. Din l-inklinazzjoni hija ta ‘madwar 23.5 gradi u minħabba fiha partijiet differenti tad-dinja jesperjenzaw dawl tax-xemx varjat matul is-sena. Dawn l-intensitajiet varji ta ‘dawl matul is-sena jissejħu staġuni. Fl-ekwinozju, ir-raġġi tax-xemx ikunu diretti fuq l-ekwatur, b’ġurnata u lejl ta’ tul ugwali fiż-żewġ emisferi. L-equinox iseħħ darbtejn fis-sena, f’Marzu u f’Settembru. Minn issa sal-21 ta ‘Ġunju, ix-xemx tibda titla aktar mill-Majjistral u tinżel aktar mill-Grigal. Ix-xemx se żżid fil-qawwa tagħha u l-Indiċi UV jiżdiedu, hekk kif ix-xemx togħla fis-sema. Ftit aktar minn ġimgħa oħra, nimmarkaw l-bidu tal-ħin tas-sajf. Nhar il-Ħadd 29 ta’ Marzu, inmexxu l-arloġġ siegħa l- quddiem. Minn dakinhar l-quddiem se jkollna aktar dawl filgħaxija.