First 5 p.m. Seattle sunset arriving soon

Plus, a little science lesson.

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Our days are currently changing in length by about ~2 minutes everyday.

Photo by @br3nn3nfoto

We’ve got some good news for you, Seattle — we’re only a few days away from 5 p.m. sunsets.

It’s definitely a big milestone in making steady progress toward getting out of the Big Dark . But if you keep track of daily sunrise and sunset times, it may really feel like it’s taking awhile — and that’s because it is.

While our days change in length by ~3:30 minutes around both equinoxes, our days change by only three seconds on the two solstices.

This is due to something called the “geometric effect ” — it essentially points out that the rate of change between our day lengths speeds up and slows down based on what angle the Earth’s axis is tilted is at .

But look on the brightside — that means our days are getting exponentially longer as we speak. ☀️

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Alina is based in Seattle, WA, but grew up in Clarksville, TN. She has 5+ years of professional journalism experience, but also spent a stint working for public transit in Nashville, TN. You’re likely to find her cruising local beaches for rocks or sailing her 1970s laser when the weather is warm.