Wainkerr99
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8215570.stm
'An Australian scientist says the continent needs five or six seasons to suit its climate.
Tim Entwisle, chief of Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens, says Australia should "unhook" itself from the "arbitrary" four seasons it inherited from Britain.
Mr Entwisle has proposed "sprummer" - the season between spring and summer - and "sprinter" - an early spring.
He says a new system could help people better understand their environment and monitor signs of climate change.
"Having four three-month seasons... doesn't make any sense in the place we live," he told Australia's public broadcaster ABC News.
"Something with more seasons would work better and something that unhooks us from these arbitrary European seasons," he added.
Aboriginal Australians use up to eight seasons in some parts of the country to capture local conditions.
Mr Entwisle says that for the system to work well, different regions would need a different number of seasons.
"I'd be encouraging different areas to have local regional seasons, to spend some time working that out and to use them to reflect what's going on around us," he told ABC.
He has suggested holding a national debate on the subject, and a public competition to name the new seasons.'
From Wikipedia:
'The Australian continent is the smallest and lowest-lying human-inhabited continent on Earth, having a total land area of some 8,560,000 square kilometres (3,305,000 sq. mi.). Australia and adjacent islands are connected by a shallow continental shelf covering some 2,500,000 square kilometres including the Sahul Shelf and Bass Strait and half of which is less than 50 metres deep.
As Australia the country is mostly on a single landmass, and comprises most of Australia the continent, it is sometimes informally referred to as an "island" continent, surrounded by oceans.'
Being surrounded by oceans would affect weather quite differently.
'An Australian scientist says the continent needs five or six seasons to suit its climate.
Tim Entwisle, chief of Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens, says Australia should "unhook" itself from the "arbitrary" four seasons it inherited from Britain.
Mr Entwisle has proposed "sprummer" - the season between spring and summer - and "sprinter" - an early spring.
He says a new system could help people better understand their environment and monitor signs of climate change.
"Having four three-month seasons... doesn't make any sense in the place we live," he told Australia's public broadcaster ABC News.
"Something with more seasons would work better and something that unhooks us from these arbitrary European seasons," he added.
Aboriginal Australians use up to eight seasons in some parts of the country to capture local conditions.
Mr Entwisle says that for the system to work well, different regions would need a different number of seasons.
"I'd be encouraging different areas to have local regional seasons, to spend some time working that out and to use them to reflect what's going on around us," he told ABC.
He has suggested holding a national debate on the subject, and a public competition to name the new seasons.'
From Wikipedia:
'The Australian continent is the smallest and lowest-lying human-inhabited continent on Earth, having a total land area of some 8,560,000 square kilometres (3,305,000 sq. mi.). Australia and adjacent islands are connected by a shallow continental shelf covering some 2,500,000 square kilometres including the Sahul Shelf and Bass Strait and half of which is less than 50 metres deep.
As Australia the country is mostly on a single landmass, and comprises most of Australia the continent, it is sometimes informally referred to as an "island" continent, surrounded by oceans.'
Being surrounded by oceans would affect weather quite differently.
