How Human Activities Affect the Seasons and Climate Patterns

Seasons have a profound impact on people’s lives and livelihoods. They dictate farming and agricultural practices, influencing what produce is plentiful or scarce, and ultimately shaping what people eat.

Winter typically brings cold weather and limited plant growth. In spring, plants and leaves sprout, and flowers blossom. Summer offers the most daylight, enabling rapid plant growth. Autumn sees temperatures drop and many trees shedding their leaves.

Seasons also influence human behaviour: the type of work we do, our clothing habits, recreational activities, and even the places we choose to live, which are often determined by climate and seasonal variety.

The science behind the seasons

Mid-latitude regions typically experience a four-season year. Countries near the equator experience warm temperatures year-round, characterised by two distinct seasons: rainy and dry.

The Earth’s 23.5-degree axial tilt is the reason for seasonal changes. This tilt remains constant throughout the year, meaning that in June, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted towards the sun, experiencing summer, while the Southern Hemisphere undergoes winter. When this alignment shifts, so do the seasons.

Emerging new seasons

While humans often perceive the seasons as stable, research published in Progress in Environmental Geography suggests that the seasons we know are shifting—and entirely new ones are emerging due to human activity. Researchers from UK universities argue that rapid changes to the planet’s natural systems are redefining how we experience and understand seasons. They identify four new categories:

1. Emergent seasons – Entirely new and recurring, these arise when human activities interact with physical, atmospheric, and oceanic cycles. They are often hazardous. For example, Southeast Asia experiences a “haze season” caused by annual peatland fires in countries such as Indonesia, which affects Malaysia and Singapore.
   
2. Extinct seasons – Certain seasons are disappearing altogether. For instance, the winter sports season and the “kittiwake season” along England’s northeast coast are vanishing, with consequences for ecosystems and cultural traditions, such as disrupted migratory patterns and the decline of alpine winter sports.
   
3. Arrhythmic seasons – Borrowing terminology from cardiology, these refer to altered rhythms: earlier springs, longer summers, shorter winters, extended hurricane seasons in the Atlantic and Pacific, and expanded wildfire seasons in North America.
   
4. Syncopated seasons – Similar to musical syncopation, these seasons shift in intensity, much like a musical composition. They include hotter summers, milder winters, more active wildfire seasons in northern Europe, and even the emergence of new wine-producing regions.

Rethinking time and seasonal knowledge

The study clarifies that Earth’s axial tilt remains unchanged, meaning that traditional four-season cycles persist. However, human-driven climate change is distorting annual rhythms, creating a disconnect between cultural traditions and everyday seasonal experiences.

Governments and societies may adapt—for example, Southeast Asia’s haze season prompted residents to install air filters and policymakers to enhance forecasting systems. Yet, these responses often address symptoms rather than root causes, risking the normalisation of harmful new patterns.

The study also notes that powerful institutions shape public narratives about seasonal issues, sometimes avoiding accountability for their role in driving change.

Significantly, the research contrasts modern, standardised timekeeping with Indigenous approaches rooted in natural rhythms such as lunar cycles, rainy seasons, and ecological cues. Indigenous communities still observe these cycles closely, aligning their food systems, mobility, and daily activities with environmental shifts.

Colonialism, however, disrupted these sustainable practices, imposing exploitative systems of resource management that continue to be damaging today. The authors advocate integrating Indigenous knowledge into policymaking, ensuring a fairer distribution of power and benefits while fostering resilience to climate change.