Today, Karachi will observe the longest day and shortest night of the year, marking the summer solstice. Chief Meteorologist Sardar Sarfaraz explained this annual event, emphasizing its importance and the variations across different regions in Pakistan.
In Karachi, daylight will last for 13 hours and 41 minutes, leaving the night at just 10 hours and 19 minutes. This is the peak of daylight for the year, after which the days will gradually become shorter.
In Islamabad, daylight will extend even longer to 14 hours and 32 minutes, with the night lasting only 9 hours and 28 minutes. These differences are due to the geographical locations of the cities.
“The summer solstice is an annual astronomical event when one of the Earth’s poles is maximally tilted toward the Sun,” Sarfaraz said. “This results in the longest day of the year in one hemisphere and the shortest in the other.”
He added that after the summer solstice, daylight hours will start to decrease until the winter solstice on December 22, which will bring the shortest day and longest night of the year.
Sarfaraz also discussed the broader impacts of this phenomenon on weather patterns and agriculture. Longer daylight hours allow for more photosynthesis, which is essential for crop growth, and also affect temperature and weather conditions.