As visualisations from satellites show, the launch dates of Earth’s seasons may need adjustment:

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Earth’s toastiest season technically arrives at the end of June. Yet as temperatures continue to break heat records, one wonders if summer’s launch date may need an adjustment. Regardless of the solstices and equinoxes that determine the official changes in seasons, we can all step outside and feel the air go from frigid to fabulous to frying pan on an annual basis. A growing network of sensory satellites and clever mapmakers like John Nelson, who compiled the animation above, allow us to look beyond the here and now to glimpse a global neighborhood of constant changes on planet Earth.

Each spring as more energy from the sun reaches the surface of Earth, a rush of metabolic activity begins. Animals creep out of hibernation and insects begin kick it up as leaves sprout from ground and twig. It happens synchronously across latitudes, as you can see below. High rates of carbon absorption are shown in green, roughly mirroring spring’s revival and winter’s submission.