Planet Without Seasons?

[scotthm]

^Not for the terms of his hypothetical situation.

I disagree, since the original question was so broad...

What would climate conditions be like on a seasonless world?

... that it left us with the option of considering many variables.

If the question is just one of how would a seasonless world affect life, perhaps we should look at life in our equatorial regions for ideas.

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[sojourner]

But the question was seasonless vs seasons world. Everything else is assumed to be equal/irrelevant to the question.

It's like someone asking what's 2+2? The general answer is 4. But then you come along and add "except in extremely large cases of 2". You're redefining the question by adding variables beyond the original intent.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

The only variable is the intensity of energy at any given distance from the sun.

Really? You don't consider the Earth's rotation, cloud cover, volcanic activity, solar output, etc. to be "variables"?

Any volcanic activity is not a seasonal variation. Neither would be the cloud cover if there isn't any seasonal change big enough to affect its appearance. The planet's rotation is a day-night cycle, I wouldn't count that as seasonal. The change of the solar output does change the climate, and that's a given, but IIUC that would be dampened by different factors and the climate wouldn't vary as much during the solar cycle, and certainly not as much as it does during the seasons on Earth.

And look at Venus, there's almost no seasonal variation. The temperature doesn't vary even between day and night because the atmosphere keeps it the same everywhere, the cloud cover doesn't change for any practical purposes... In fact you can hardly say that there are any variables there, even latitude doesn't matter, the only change happens with altitude.

 

[scotthm]

And look at Venus, there's almost no seasonal variation. The temperature doesn't vary even between day and night because the atmosphere keeps it the same everywhere, the cloud cover doesn't change for any practical purposes... In fact you can hardly say that there are any variables there, even latitude doesn't matter, the only change happens with altitude.

There you go--a planet without seasons would be an arid and barren furnace.

OP answered.

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[PurpleBuddha]

But the question was seasonless vs seasons world. Everything else is assumed to be equal/irrelevant to the question.

It's like someone asking what's 2+2? The general answer is 4. But then you come along and add "except in extremely large cases of 2". You're redefining the question by adding variables beyond the original intent.

So true. I am always annoyed by the small number of people who either cannot understand the intent of a simple hypothetical or act like they cannot.

I do not know enough to answer the question, but on a similar note, I often wonder how different life would have evolved on earth if the climate was perpetually like the equator covering most of the surface of the earth.