What would happen if there were no leap years? Understand what will happen

Most people know this, Every four years, an extra day (February 29) is added to the calendar to create what we know as a leap year. Leap years consist of 366 days instead of 365; This period almost always occurs when the years are a multiple of 4, as in 2024. So have you ever thought about what is the reason for this?

Leap year was created by humanity to keep the calendar in sync with the seasons; Because although a year has 365 days, it takes approximately 365.25 days for the Earth to revolve around the Sun. In other words, an extra day is required every four years; only in exceptional cases another day is added to the calendar; such as years that are multiples of 100 but not multiples of 400.

In other words, It’s as if the leap year serves as a correction to keep the months in sync with the natural events that occur throughout the year. After all, the exact rotation period of the Sun’s orbit is not exactly precise, so the best adjustment to keep things in order is leap years.

“A leap year is a year with some intermediate periods, particularly the Gregorian year, which lasts 29 days in February instead of the standard 28 days. The astronomical year, the time it takes for the Earth to complete its orbit around the Sun, is approximately 365.242 days, or 365.25 days at first estimate… The difference between the approximate value of 0.25 days and 0.25 days over the centuries is the sum of the more accurate value of 0.242 days. states that it has increased significantly.

If science had not created the leap year to synchronize the Earth calendar, humanity would probably be very confused about the seasons. To try to explain the topic a little more, TecMundo gathered information from scientists and other experts in the field.

What is a leap year?

Leap year was not created by a single person; in fact, his idea has developed throughout human history. The first appearance of this ‘element’ dates back to 46 AD, when Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar to the Roman Empire.; By then the Romans were using a version that lasted only 355 days.

This was because Roman politicians counted the days according to lunar cycles; It is not surprising that the Julian calendar counts according to the solar cycle.

The truth is that adding one day every four years is not enough, and there is some complicated math involved in the process. To sum up, the solar year is 365.25 days, but the actual number is 365,242. So the calculation is a little more complicated than it seems; If the number was actually 365.25, scientists believe the math would be a little simpler.

The Julian calendar was used for hundreds of years until Pope Gregory XIII made some updates and improvements at the end of the 16th century. From here, society began to prefer the Gregorian calendar, which is used by most countries to this day due to its accuracy regarding leap years.

What would happen if there were no leap years?

The transition from the lunar cycle to the solar cycle and the addition of leap years took place precisely to align the calendar with the Earth’s journey in orbit around the Sun. Only in this way is it possible to count the days on the planet. In accordance with the seasons of each year. For example, if this calculation were not correct, there would be no summer between December and March in the southern hemisphere.

“Without leap years, we will experience summer in November in a few hundred years. Christmas will be in the summer. There will be no snow. “There will be no Christmas feeling,” University of Alabama physics professor Younas Khan said of the connection between calendar alignment and seasons in the northern hemisphere.

If there were no leap years calendars in all hemispheres will be misaligned with weather seasons. For example, winter may begin in the current summer season, and seasons may constantly change depending on the days on the calendar. Therefore, solstices and equinoxes will also often occur at different times than expected.

At first glance, it might seem that this misalignment does not have much impact on the lives of human beings on planet Earth, but the opposite is the case. In this case, farmers will no longer be able to understand when is the best time to grow food. In some parts of the world, some societies will also suffer from thermal sensations because they do not know exactly when to expect the coldest or hottest seasons of the year.

Did you like the content? Therefore, always stay up to date with more curiosity about our planet at TecMundo. If you wish, have the opportunity to understand how a day would last 65 hours if the Sun did not affect the Earth’s rotation.