Research conducted at the University of Sydney by the meteorology branch of the Science department has shown that, in addition to being the cause of the cycle of four seasons that the Earth undergoes every year, the axial tilt of the globe is also the mechanism behind the revue seasons.
The Earth, which orbits the Sun tilted 23.4 degrees away from a vertical position (measured relative to its orbital plane), experiences yearly changes in climate based on the poles’ proximities to the Sun. For example, winter in the southern hemisphere occurs when the globe is in the part of its orbit that tilts the south further away from the sun.
Now it has been found that the faculty revue season, falling roughly between winter and spring and localised entirely within the University’s grounds, is a direct consequence of the unique position that the University reaches every year in the Earth’s journey around the sun. At this point, the combination of day length, temperature and pollen levels coalesce to form the perfect conditions for sketch comedy to be written and performed.
Head researcher Josephine Ouyang said the phenomenon was “very strange; nothing like this has really been documented before, and it’s honestly a little worrying because it might signal slight changes in the Earth’s alignment, which could have massive knock-on effects”.
The identity revue season, which has more recently emerged between autumn and winter, initially showed up on the researchers’ radars as a more diffuse cluster of climate anomalies, but due to the gradual effects of climate change has become a more observably distinct meteorological event.
