When does winter start in Egypt and what is its relationship to climate change?

Winter begins astronomically in Egypt on the evening of approximately December 21, and it begins climatically before this, specifically on December 1, and these dates always bring to our minds questions about the reality of climate change, which makes our winters shorter and milder than the winters of our ancestors. Which reveals the extent of our progress in the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals Plan.

So, what you will find in this article, which The Earth Guards Foundation presents to its readers, is a discussion of the start date of winter, and a discussion of why the seasons have changed sharply in recent decades, and what is the relationship between all of this. on food, health, economy and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals; So keep reading.

When does winter start in Egypt?

This question puzzles many people. Because winter has two beginnings:

• Astronomical Beginning
• and climatic onset

Each of their beginnings is correct, except that each of them measures something different from the other, and this is what we will explain to you in the following lines.

Climatic start: December 1

Climatically, winter begins on December 1; Because meteorologists divide the year into four approximately equal seasons, each season having three full months. Winter for them is December, January, and February. And spring is March, April, May… and so on. The reason is that collecting full months makes it easier to calculate annual averages of temperature and precipitation and compare them year after year. This division is close to what we actually experience, as these three months are the coldest of the year in Egypt.

Astronomical start: December 21

As for the astronomical beginning, it begins with the winter solstice, when the sun is perpendicular to the Tropic of Capricorn. This solstice occurs on the evening of the twenty-first of December, and it is an accurate time announced – usually – by specialized astronomical bodies, such as the National Institute for Astronomical and Geophysical Research.

When does the cold actually start in Egypt?

Despite the previous limited time for the start of winter, it is We must pay attention to the fact that the cold does not wait for an astronomical calendar to spread throughout the governorates of Egypt. Because the first weather depressions usually arrive in late October and November, and the temperature gradually decreases after that, then the peak of coldness reaches in January and early February, and the lowest in Cairo approaches, on average, 8 to 10 degrees Celsius!

How do the seasons change?

The seasons are a natural phenomenon as old as the Earth, and understanding them is necessary before we understand what changes in them. So how?

Earth’s axis tilt

The Earth tilts at an angle of 23.4 degrees as it revolves around the sun, and this tilt – neither proximity to the sun nor distance from it – is the secret of the seasons; In winter, our northern hemisphere tilts away from the sun, so its rays reach us Weak and weak, our days are short. In the summer, it leans towards it, so its rays reach us almost vertically and powerfully, and our days are long.

Winter changes with climate change

We first agree that the seasons change naturally over time, but climate change caused by human activities accelerates such changes and pushes them forcefully outside their usual rhythm, as follows:

First – rising temperatures

Summers are becoming longer and warmer, and winters are becoming shorter and milder. The reason is that high temperatures melt snow and ice earlier in the spring, and delay their return in the fall. That is, the Earth’s temperature – in terms of numbers – has risen by about 1.47 degrees Celsius (2.65 Fahrenheit) since the middle of the nineteenth century, and this According to the global temperature report for the year 2025.

Second – Disturbances of rain patterns

While some areas suffer from intense rains, other areas suffer from more severe drought. High temperature increases evaporation, and thus more clouds form and more rain falls, but the same rapid evaporation may dry out the soil and water sources, and thus the same cause can turn into a flood in one place and a drought in another. Human beings are lagging behind in efforts to achieve Goal 13 of the Sustainable Development Goals: climate action.

Third – Planetary Health and Economy

On the third hand, we find that climate change affects In planetary systems, human health, and the economy together, the most prominent examples of this are related to agricultural diseases in the winter, and the problems of heat stress in the summer, and the clear effects that these two changes have on the type of crops that can be grown in these two seasons.

What does Egypt plant at the beginning of winter?

Therefore, all of this shows the practical impact of the beginning of winter in an agricultural country like Egypt. With the advent of the winter season, farmers are busy with crops that tolerate cold, including:

• Wheat
• Sugar beets
• Local fava beans
• Potatoes

So, then When we ask when winter began in Egypt, we are in fact trying to understand a natural rhythm whose features are beginning to change before our eyes. Here the value of looking at climate change as an integrated development issue becomes clear. The temperature that changes does not stop at the limits of the weather, and the rain that fluctuates does not remain a matter of meteorology.

Therefore, The Earth Guards Foundation believes that reading winter in this way is more important than being satisfied with its start date; Because sustainable development is measured by a society’s ability to prepare for the negative effects of climate change, reduce its losses, protect its agricultural production, increase the efficiency of water and energy use, strengthen health systems, and develop knowledge that makes decisions more capable of responding to changes.